General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tippoo Sahib after having Captured Seringapatam, on the 4th May, 1799

Wilkie's General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultaun Tippoo Saib of 1839, depicting the 1799 storming of Seringapatam that ended Tipu Sultan's rule in Mysore, was commissioned by Baird's widow as a heroic monument to her husband's military achievement. The scene in which Baird, himself once imprisoned in the fort, identifies his defeated enemy by torchlight provided material for a composition of dramatic chiaroscuro. The painting reflects Wilkie's late ambitions for grander historical subjects beyond the Scottish genre scenes of his reputation, drawing on orientalist and colonial subject matter from the British Indian empire.

Wilkie renders the dramatic scene with the broad, dark palette and loose brushwork of his late period, influenced by Spanish Baroque masters. The theatrical lighting illuminating the sultan's body creates a powerful contrast with the shadowy fortress interior.