Battle of Chesma

The battle in this picture happened at night in July 1770, in a narrow bay on the Turkish coast, when a Russian fleet trapped the larger Ottoman one against the shore and sent in fireships, small vessels packed with powder and set alight to drift into the crowded enemy line. By dawn most of the Turkish fleet had burned. Aivazovsky painted it in 1848, nearly 80 years after the event, for a navy that still treasured the victory. He was born on the Crimean coast at Feodosia and spent his life on the moods of the sea. Here he hands the whole scene to fire and water, the burning ships throwing orange light across the dark swell, a single boat of survivors rowing out of the blaze.