This painting by Peter von Hess shows Alexandros Ypsilantis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Υψηλάντης), a Greek officer in the tsar’s army, crossing the river Pruth with his men to enter the Ottomans’ Danubian Principalities in February 1821. He is depicted wearing the all-black dress of his revolutionary army, the Sacred Band (Greek: Ἱερὸς Λόχος), and carrying the unit’s flag as he steps off of a canoe and onto the land.
