The Captive (Ralli)

The Captive is a painting created by Greek French painter Theodorus Rallis in 1885. Rallis was born in Constantinople to Greek parents and was a member of the elite Ralli Brothers family. Ralli was captivated by the works of Jean-Léon Gérôme, who showed audiences the horrors of Ottoman Slavery. Ralli eventually studied with the master painter, drawing inspiration from his works. Ralli was an Orientalist, Academic, and Impressionist painter who could paint in both the Academic and Impressionist styles. From 1881 to 1887, Ralli's Paris studio was at 30 Rue Bremontier in Paris, France. In the summer of 1885, he made a journey to Mount Athos and kept a journal of his travels.

One of Ralli's earliest depictions of Greek subjects was in 1876, entitled Praying in a Greek church, Mount Parnassus. The painter shows the interior of a Greek Orthodox Church and subjects dressed in traditional Greek attire. During the 1870s, he also completed The Weavers, Arachova and Young Mother from Megara demonstrating his knowledge of the Greek villages of Megara and Arachova. Most of his works on Greek everyday life feature recurring traditional Greek attire. The dress the young girl wears in The Captive is seen in many of Ralli's other works. By 1885, he drew inspiration from his travels to Mount Athos. Most of the surrounding area was still occupied by the Ottoman Empire, and slavery was still a part of everyday life. In the years leading to the debut of The Captive, Rallis painted several works featuring enslaved women known as Odalisques. The odalisque was a female slave or concubine in an Ottoman Turkish harem. Ralli completed a work featuring the subject matter in 1884, titled Innocent Odalisque one year before The Captive.

The most popular artistic rendition of Greek slavery during Ottoman times is The Greek Slave statue by Hiram Powers, completed in 1843. The theme became very popular and was initiated by the Greek Slave Movement in the United States. European artists began to depict female slaves. The Slave Market by Ralli's teacher Jean-Léon Gérôme is one such rendition. The work was completed in 1866. Rallis enrolled in Gérôme’s studio at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts on January 15, 1873. His first address, 10 Rue de Seine, was near the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Ralli continued to paint subjects with a similar theme to The Captive in his work entitled The Booty. Both works take place in a sacked Greek Orthodox Church. The Captive is held in a private collection and was sold in 2021.