3-098-895 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Galley Slaves, c1897. Men rowing in chains in the dark interior of a 16th-century Turkish galleon. On the left, an elderly man, with his torso naked, is holding a black rosary in his hand, indicating his status as a Christian. On the right, a younger man can be seen, with one foot chained. The light penetrates through two small hatches in the hull of the ship through which the sea is visible. The artist intended to show, through the slaves' attitude and expression, the contrasting way in which they both endured their painful slavery, highlighting the religious ideal of the period in the Christian resignation expressed by one of the figures.