The spread of awareness and appreciation of ancient Greek civilization that swept through Europe in the late 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, was one of the two main reasons for the development of philhellenism.

The idea of the creation of a Greek state on the territories where Greek Antiquity had thrived struck Europeans as fascinating, especially the educated and prosperous bourgeois classes.

The Greek Revolution was assisted from the very beginning by a vibrant wave of support from the most important European cities. Philhellenism, as such support was called, contributed considerably to the Greek cause.

The Greeks uprising against the Ottoman Empire constituted a source of inspiration throughout the 19th century for European art and culture.

These engravings by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville embrace the philhellenic European spirit of the time.