 During the Russo-Turkish War he was attached to the retinue of Nicholas I (now the Tsar) to sketch and make paintings upon his direction, which included several scenes from the Siege of Varna.Following the sudden death of his beloved wife Cleo in 1840, he fell into a period of chronic depression and alcoholism which led to the illness that eventually took his life.His output decreased to a trickle, consisting largely of sketches made from 1844 to 1846 while travelling through Italy in an effort to assuage his grief.