The painting is in the style of the Russian artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.In the depths of the bay, burning ships can be seen sinking, fragments of masts flying apart from the explosion. Rising flames with scarlet-blue smoke mix with clouds, and the light of the moon illuminates the hellish mixture of fire and water. In the foreground, the flagship of the Russian fleet "Three Hierarchs" stands in dark silhouette, to which a boat with the crew of the fireman D. S. Ilyin approaches. Behind the "Three Hierarchs" are "Europa" and "Rostislav", on the left in the background is "Don't touch me", (the location of the Russian ships is slightly "edited" by Aivazovsky, the ships are closer to each other than they were in real combat), . On the left in the foreground, Turkish sailors can be seen in the water, clinging to the wreckage of ships in order not to drown. In the background, the city is illuminated by the glow of the fire. The composition is built on a sharp contrast between flames, pale moonlight, clouds of smoke and fire covering the sky — all this creates the impression of tension and drama of the events taking place. Visually, the center of the picture is not even the Russian ships in the foreground, visible more as silhouettes against the background of clouds of flame and smoke, but the burning formation of the Turkish fleet., painted in the so-called oriental taste.