It is an unfinished study of the painting now in the Racconigi castle. The work can be dated on the basis of a letter from d'Azeglio to his brother Roberto dated 24 March 1823: I made a painting, finished only a few days ago, of Leonidas' death; it represents the moment in which he falls defended by a few of the his survivors, on one side the army of Xerxes who pursue, on the other the Thermopylae ..., in the background the Artemisio bosom with boats, triremes, fires, tents ... In advance of the more famous Montmorency, the painting proposed the encounter between landscape painting and subjects inspired by historical episodes. The link with the contemporary Roman neoclassical artistic environment is more pronounced than in Montmorency, in particular in the meticulous definition of the plant elements and in the razor-sharp scanning of the planes. The final draft will give a different interpretation both of the landscape (enlarged on the view of the gulf and softened in a diffused light), and of the clash, fragmented in various duels.
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Title:Study for the death of Leonidas at Thermopylae