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The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
Alma Claude Burton Cull, (British 1880-1931)
H.M.S. “Victory” leading the fleet into immortality
Oil on canvas
51 x 21.5 cm. (20 x 8 1/2 in.)
Private Collection
Sold for £ 8,400 in July 2005
Painted in 1905, almost certainly as a Trafalgar Centenary commission or speculation, Cull has chosen to show “Victory” at sea and leading a column of ships-of-the-line, possibly into action but more likely on the transatlantic dash in pursuit of the French fleet during the summer of 1805. More on The Battle of Trafalgar
The flagship of Nelson’s navy was HMS Victory. To build the 104-gun battleship, 6,000 oaks and elms were felled for the wood and it needed 26 miles of rope and rigging for the three masts. At Trafalgar, the ship had a crew of 821 men. More on building the shipe
Alma Claude Burlton Cull (1880-1931), was a noted English marine painter who worked in watercolours and oils, and specialised in painting Royal Navy ships.
Cull exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, The Walker Art Gallery and the London Salon. In his retirement he lived at Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire. Some of his work is exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
Cull was a contemporary of the prolific William Lionel Wyllie RA. Cull's paintings are much rarer than those by Wyllie, and are regarded as being on a par with Wyllie's. Edward VII commissioned some of his paintings. Cull paintings are sought after, and only occasionally appear at auctions More on Alma Claude Burlton Cull
Eyre Crowe (1824–1910)
Nelson's Last Farewell to England, c.1888
Oil on canvas
162.5 x 247.7 cm
Norfolk Museums Service
Eyre Crowe (1824–1910) was an English painter, principally of historical art and genre scenes, but with an interest in social realism. He was born in London but grew up in France. He was a pupil of William Darley and later of Paul Delaroche in Paris. He traveled in the United States as amanuensis to Thackeray between 1852 and 1853. He published With Thackeray in America (1893) and Thackeray's Haunts and Homes (1897). He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy in London between 1846 and 1908. In 1876 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy. More on Eyre Crowe
Edgar Bundy, (British, 1862-1922)
Eyre Crowe
Oil on panel
15.8 x 24.4cm. (6 1/4 x 9 5/8in.)
Private Collection
Edgar Bundy (Brighton, 1862 – London, 1922) was an English painter. Bundy had no formal training but learned some of his craft at the studio of Alfred Stevens. He specialised in historical paintings in oil and watercolour, usually in a very detailed and narrative style, a genre which was very popular in the Edwardian time he lived in. Bundy exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915 and at the Paris Salon in 1907. In the Tate Gallery is his Royal Academy painting of 1905 entitled The Morning of Sedgemoor depicting the Duke of Monmouth's rebels resting in a barn before the battle.
Influences in Bundy's work include Pre-Raphaelites such as John Millais, William Morris and the works of John Ruskin. More on Edgar Bundy
Nelson explaining his plan to his captains
Upon reaching the fleet, Nelson became occupied with setting up look-out ships, formulating strategies, and general administration. A small squadron under Rear-Admiral Thomas Louis in the Canopus joined on the 1st of October, and was promptly sent back out to Gibraltar to get supplies. Louis strongly protested, believing he would miss the battle, but Nelson assured him that he would be back before the enemy got out. But he was wrong, and Louis and his squadron did indeed miss the battle, to Louis' intense disappointment.
Collingwood in the Royal Sovereign joined on the 8th, and on the 9th Nelson sent him what he called the 'Nelson Touch'. This was the essence of his strategy in the upcoming battle. Flying in the face of traditional battle strategy, whereby a fleet would line up parallel with an enemy line and fire broadsides on each other, normally in one-on-one encounters, Nelson's strategy involved sailing in two columns. One would characteristically be led by him, the other by Collingwood, and they would sail directly into the enemy line, cutting right through it. This would decrease the enemy's advantage of numbers, as the front ships of their line would be rendered ineffective until they were able to turn around and re-join the battle, during which time the British fleet would outnumber and pummel the remainder. More on The Trafalgar Campaign
George Lucy Good (active 19th C)
Viscount Horatio Nelson (1758–1805), before the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, c.1854
Oil on canvas
35 x 27 cm
National Maritime Museum
An imaginary full-length portrait to left wearing vice-admiral’s undress uniform with the star and ribbon of the Bath, the Neapolitan Order of St Ferdinand, the Turkish Order of the Crescent and German Order of St Joachim and of Merit. His empty sleeve is pinned across and he rests his head on his left hand in contemplation. Nelson is shown sitting at his desk in his day cabin on the ‘Victory’, on the morning of Trafalgar. More on this painting
The Battle of Trafalgar
On the morning of 21 October the British found the Franco-Spanish Allied fleet, which reversed its course northwards towards Cadiz, forming into a somewhat disordered single column on the port tack in a light wind. The British fleet was in two parallel lines, the left-hand or windward column being led by Nelson in the 'Victory', the right-hand or leeward one by Collingwood in the 'Royal Sovereign', 100 guns. Both lines intercepted the enemy at an angle from slightly astern of their beam, Collingwood engaging about one-third from the rear of the enemy line and Nelson just ahead of the centre. More on The Battle of Trafalgar
John Fairburn
Plan of Lord Nelson's Victory over the combined Fleet, off Trafalgar, October 21, 1805
Hand-coloured, extract from the London Gazette Extraordinary, c. 1805
625 x 485mm
John Fairburn
Plan of Lord Nelson's Victory over the combined Fleet, off Trafalgar, October 21, 1805
Detail
John Fairburn
Plan of Lord Nelson's Victory over the combined Fleet, off Trafalgar, October 21, 1805
Detail
John Fairburn (publisher/printer; British; 1789 - 1840) Map, chart, bookseller and (from 1811) print publisher; publisher of cheap caricatures and popular prints.
Between the 1790s and the 1850s a vast output of maps, prints and chapbooks was issued under the imprint of the London printer-publisher John Fairburn. Among the earliest known items by Fairburn is a matched pair of mezzotints featuring the fate of Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution (1793). Most of the firm's output took the form of topical caricatures and cheap chapbooks, ephemeral items easily damaged or destroyed. The Bishopsgate Institute houses a number of these now very rare items. More on John Fairburn
Known to history as "The Nelson Touch," the battle plan that the British commander devised broke with traditional naval practice. Standard tactics of the time called for enemy ships to form opposing parallel lines and blast one another with the cannon that lined the sides of their ships.
Nelson formulated a different approach. He would divide his fleet into two parallel lines aimed directly at the middle of his opponent's force with the objective of splitting that force into two sections. With the enemy's ships split into two sections, Nelson would concentrate his attack on the isolated rear section. More on The Nelson Touch
Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821)
Trafalgar Battle - 21st of October 1805 - Situation at 13h
Battle of Trafalgar. View from the lead ship Mars allies, as of 13-00.
The British two columns attacking from the west (right)
Nicholas Pocock (2 March 1740 – 9 March 1821) was a British artist known for his many detailed paintings of naval battles during the age of sail. Pocock was born in Bristol in 1740, the son of a seaman. He followed his father's profession and was master of a merchant ship by the age of 26. During his time at sea, he became a skilled artist by making ink and wash sketches of ships and coastal scenes for his log books.
Pocock's naval paintings incorporated extensive research, including interviewing eyewitnesses about weather and wind conditions as well as the positions, condition, and appearance of their ships; and drawing detailed plans of the battle and preliminary sketches of individual ships.
In addition to his large-scale oil paintings depicting naval battles, Pocock also produced many watercolours of coastal and ship scenes. More on Nicholas Pocock
Robert Dodd (British, 1748-1815)
The Battle of Trafalgar – the two British columns going into action
Oil on canvas
63.5 x 152.4cm. (25 x 60in.)
Private Collection
Nelson himself, as Vice-Admiral of the White, led the Weather Division of the fleet (i.e. the White Squadron) in H.M.S. “Victory” whilst Collingwood, as Vice-Admiral of the Blue, led the Leeward Division in his flagship “Royal Sovereign”. As the fleets closed for action, “Royal Sovereign” drew ahead and broke the enemy line just after noon, almost half-an-hour before “Victory” was able to do so. As this extremely unusual view from astern of the fleet shows only too clearly, both British columns were subjected to volley after volley of enemy fire before either of them could get into positions from where they could reply.. More on the battle
Robert Dodd (1748–1815) was a British marine painter and aquatint engraver. He is known for his works on the French Revolutionary Wars. Dodd's most well-known work, The mutineers turning Lt Bligh and some of the officers and crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship Bounty, 29 April 1789.
Dodd started his career as a landscape painter, but after gaining some recognition in this field, specialised in marine scenes. Living in Wapping, London, he had plenty of material to hand in the way of ships, docks and wharfs, and much of his work includes scenes of the River Thames and naval dockyards. Other themes include battles and actions of the French Revolutionary Wars and the American War of Independence, prominently including a large canvas of the battle of the First of June for the dining room of his local inn, the Half Way House, in Commercial Road, London; the paining is now at the National Maritime Museum. Although much of his work was subsequently engraved by other artists, he also engraved and published over 100 aquatints of his own work. His use of light effects, particularly the contrasts between the sun's rays and the dark clouds, or the fire against the smoke of battle, convey the drama and activity of a sea battle. Although technically accurate and meticulous, his artistic talents were somewhat eclipsed by the greatest of his peers, and it is his contribution to the historical record that is his greatest legacy. More on Robert Dodd
Geoff Hunt, PPRSMA (born 1948)
The Heavyweight Punch, HMS Victory," "HMS Temeraire" and "HMS Neptune" leading the line at Trafalgar on Oct. 21, 1805
Geoff Hunt PPRSMA (born 1948) is a British maritime artist and former President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. Hunt attended Kingston and Epsom Schools of Art, 1966–70, where he studied graphic design. Upon graduation, following a couple of years in advertising, Hunt established himself as a freelance artist and designer. Hunt was Art Editor for the popular Warship quarterly journal, from its inception in 1977 until 1979.
In February 2007, Hunt was asked by Rear-Admiral John Lippiett, Chief Executive of the Mary Rose Trust to paint an artist’s reconstruction of Henry VIII’s infamous flagship. Hunt accepted the commission, finally completing the painting in January 2009 after hours of extensive and meticulous research. An article by Hunt recounting the experience can be found in the Shipwright 2010 annual.
Hunt’s illustrations adorn The Frigate Surprise: The Design, Construction and Careers of Jack Aubrey’s Favourite Command (2008), which he co-authored with respected maritime historian, Brian Lavery. Aubrey’s creator Patrick O’Brian has proclaimed that ‘Geoff Hunt’s pictures, perfectly accurate in period and detail, but very far from merely representational, are often suffused with a light reminiscent of Canaletto.’
Hunt lives in Wimbledon with his wife and two children. Befitting his muse, Hunt’s studio is situated on the site of Merton Place, Admiral Nelson’s house. More on Geoff Hunt
After W.H. Overend
The Hero of Trafalgar, c. 1898
Chromolithograph
Issued as a supplement to The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News Christmas number
585 x 825mm. (23 x 32 1/2 in)
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
A print after the painting titled ‘Trafalgar’ by William Overend (1851-98), who died just before it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1898. The print was published in the ‘Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News’, 1905, with the title ‘ “The Hero of Trafalgar" Nelson on Board the Victory, October 21st 1805’. In common with other images of Nelson during the same period, the quotation is taken from Robert Southey’s , ‘Life of Nelson’ (1814), which was reprinted throughout the 19th century. The painting also had the inscription: ‘He wore that day as usual, his Admiral’s frock-coat bearing on the left breast 4 stars of the different orders with which he was invested. Ornaments which rendered him so conspicuous a mark for the enemy were beheld with ominous apprehension by his officers; it could not be doubted but that his life would be particularly aimed at. They entreated him to change his dress, or cover his stars, but Nelson replied : ‘In honour I gained them, and in honour I will die with them’….About a quarter after one a ball struck the epaulette on his left shoulder. – Southey.’ As the quotation indicates, Nelson is shown standing on the right on the deck of the ‘Victory’, looking fixedly and determinedly ahead while the activity of battle rages around him. More on this work
William Overend (1851-98) is was an American-born marine and military painter, who latterly worked in England as an illustrator for the ‘Illustrated London News’ and exhibited at the Academy on several occasions from 1872. He also illustrated a number of adventure books for boys particularly focusing on the Empire, including those by G. A. Henty. His unusual second name is sometimes found as Heysham or Huysman, apparently in error. More on William Overend
Richard Grenville, (20th century)
HMS Victory, HMS Temeraire, HMS Neptune, 'Hold the Line'
I have no further description, at this time
In the misty calm of the morning of October 21st, 1805, three of Great Britain's most powerful ships - Victory (100 guns), Temeraire (98) and Neptune (98) are seen under full sail, bearing down majestically on the enemy line off Cape Trafalgar. The colossal might of these three ships with combined firepower of 296 guns, is seen from the French and Spanish line as they close to deliver the famous Heavyweight Punch. More on Heavyweight Punch
Richard Grenville was born in Hove Sussex and at the age of just six months he started his long association with ships. First he crossed the Atlantic by Liner, moved from the USA to Barbados and onto Singapore where he began sailing at a very early age. When he was 11 years old the family took the slow route by cargo ship back to the UK. Whilst growing up he spent many happy hours on the water in the varied boats his father owned and as a family they spent nearly all their summer holidays yachting. An activity he still enjoys today.
Richard Grenville, (20th century)
HMS Victory, HMS Temeraire, HMS Neptune, 'Hold the Line'
Detail
A graduate of Brighton College of Art and Design. After spending over a decade in Design and Architecture he became a full time artist in 1989. Mostly working for Architectural, Aviation and Military clients he has also done much work in the off shore Oil and Gas Exploration sector. He has had many maritime painting commissions including book illustration and exhibited several times with the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London. More on Richard Grenville
William John Huggins (1781–1845)
The Battle of Trafalgar: the Beginning of the Action, c. 1837
Oil on Canvas
First of three paintings commissioned by the king. The other two are below.
William John Huggins (1781–1845), listed below
Thomas Buttersworth (1768–1842)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: Beginning of the Action, c, 1805–1842
Oil on canvas
57 x 86.5 cm
National Maritime Museum
In the right foreground is the French ship ‘Bucentaure’ in starboard-bow view, with her mizzen mast and main topgallant mast shot away. In port-bow view and passing astern of her is the British ‘Neptune’, delivering raking fire. Astern of her and only half in the picture is the ‘Leviathan’ port-bow view. In the left foreground the ‘Santissima Trinidad’ is shown in port-bow view. Her main and mizzen masts and fore-topgallant mast are being shot away by the ‘Victory’, which is passing astern of her as she breaks the line. More on rhe battle
Thomas Buttersworth (5
May 1768 – November 1842)
was an English seaman of the Napoleonic wars period who became a marine
painter. He produced works to commission, and was little exhibited during his
lifetime. More on Thomas Buttersworth
Geoff Hunt, PPRSMA (born 1948)
HMS Victory, The Deadly Blow
Oil on Linen Canvas
26 x 36 inches (66 x 91.5 cm)
Private collection
Sold for £36,000
Geoff Hunt, PPRSMA (born 1948), see above
Patrick O'Brien, (1914-2000)
Battle of Trafalgar, Spanish Ship SANTISIMA TRINIDAD and HMS VICTORY
Oil on canvas
24” x 36”
Private Collection
Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), was a draftsman in a naval architecture firm before becoming an artist. Since 1995, he has worked as an illustrator and painter. His clients include: National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and the Smithsonian. His artwork has appeared in magazines and newspapers, on posters and greeting cards, and even on billboards. In addition, O’Brien is the author and illustrator of 12 picture books for children. More on Patrick O'Brien
Montague Dawson (British, 1895-1973)
Trafalgar; Victory at noon - H.M.S. 'Victory' breaking the enemy line and raking the stern of the French flagship
Oil on canvas
101.6 x 127cm. (40 x 50in.)
Private Collection
Dawson has depicted ‘Victory’ just as she breaks through the enemy line and pours her first massive port broadside into ‘Bucentaure’s’ stern. Smashing through the enemy flagship’s three-tiered galleries, ‘Victory’s’ devastating fire sweeps along the length of all three gundecks causing immense damage and huge loss of life whilst on ‘Victory’s’ starboard side, the artist has shown the enemy line stretching away into the distance. The overall effect is a triumph and shows the artist’s skill at its consummate peak. More on this painting
Montague Dawson RMSA, FRSA (1890–1973) was a British painter who was renowned as a maritime artist. His most famous paintings depict sailing ships, usually clippers or warships of the 18th and 19th centuries. Montague was the son of a keen yachtsman and the grandson of the marine painter Henry Dawson (1811–1878), born in Chiswick, London. Much of his childhood was spent on Southampton Water where he was able to indulge his interest in the study of ships. For a brief period around 1910 Dawson worked for a commercial art studio in Bedford Row, London, but with the outbreak of the First World War he joined the Royal Navy. Whilst serving with the Navy in Falmouth he met Charles Napier Hemy (1841–1917), who considerably influenced his work. In 1924 Dawson was the official artist for an Expedition to the South Seas by the steam yacht St.George. During the expedition he provided illustrated reports to the Graphic magazine.
After the War, Dawson established himself as a professional marine artist, concentrating on historical subjects and portraits of deep-water sailing ships. During the Second World War, he was employed as a war artist. Dawson exhibited regularly at the Royal Society of Marine Artists, of which he became a member, from 1946 to 1964, and occasionally at the Royal Academy between 1917 and 1936. By the 1930s he was considered one of the greatest living marine artists, whose patrons included two American Presidents, Dwight D Eisenhower and Lyndon B Johnson, as well as the British Royal Family. Also in the 1930s, he moved to Milford-Upon-Sea in Hampshire, living there for many years. Dawson is noted for the strict accuracy in the nautical detail of his paintings which often sell for six figures.
The work of Montague Dawson is represented in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth. More on Montague Dawson
Eduardo de Martino (Italian, 1838-1912)
'Victory', possibly with Captain Blackwood leaving to return to his own ship, the frigate 'Euryalus', after a meeting with Nelson
Oil on canvas
66 x 46 cm. (26 x 18 in.)
Private Collection
Captain (later Admiral Sir) Henry Blackwood (1770-1832) was a highly distinguished officer who entered the Royal Navy as a Volunteer in 1781 and saw action across the world. A long-time friend of Nelson, it was he who brought the news to Merton [in September 1805] that the combined Franco-Spanish fleet had been discovered in Cadiz, thereby forcing Nelson to abandon Emma and return to sea immediately to counter the threat. Once back with the fleet, Nelson ordered Blackwood to stand off Cadiz in order to watch for enemy activity and signal at once if they attempted to leave harbour. It was thus Blackwood who signalled to Nelson, on 19th October [1805], that the enemy fleet was putting to sea and regularly reported developments over the following day and night. During the ensuing battle, Blackwood positioned his frigate “Euryalus” near to “Victory” with the result that it was he who informed Collingwood that Nelson had died and that overall command of the fleet had been transferred. More on Captain Blackwood's action
HMS Euryalus was a Royal Navy 36-gun Apollo-class frigate that saw service in the Battle of Trafalgar and the War of 1812. During her career she was commanded by three prominent naval personalities of the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period, Henry Blackwood, George Dundas and Charles Napier. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she continued on active service for a number of years, before spending more than two decades as a prison hulk. She ended her career in Gibraltar where, in 1860, she was sold for breaking up. More on HMS Euryalus
Edoardo De Martino or Edoardo Federico De Martino CVO (29 March 1838 – 12 May 1912) was an Italian-British painter, mainly active in London as a painter of warships and marine battles. He was born in Meta di Sorrento. He served as an officer in the Italian Navy, but by age thirty, influenced by members of the School of Resina, he turned to painting, first in Naples. He gained fame in London, where his depictions of famous British naval victories and ships were highly prized, including by Queen Victoria. He painted depictions of the naval battles of Trafalgar, of the Nile, and of Cape San Vincenzo.
He was appointed an Honorary Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1902 Birthday Honours. Edoardo De Martino died in London in 1912. More on Edoardo De Martino
Unknown
Nelson and Captain Hardy During Trafalgar
Oil on canvas
150 x 210 mm
During the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, it was shortly before Nelson was mortally wounded that a shot struck the fore brace bits on the quarter deck and passed between Nelson and Hardy. Both stopped and looked anxiously at each other then Nelson smiled and said, This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long. This illustration represents the point at which he said those words during the battle. More on Battle of Trafalgar
Bernard Finnigan Gribble (1872–1962)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805
Oil on canvas
153 x 213.5 cm
Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
B. F. (Bernard Finegan) Gribble RBC SMA (10 May 1872 - 21 February 1962) was a prolific British marine artist and illustrator. Gribble was born in Chelsea in 1872. He was educated at the College of St Francis Saviour, Bruges, Belgium; South Kensington Art School; and under Albert Toft. He became a member of the Poole and East Dorset Art Society.
Gribble was best known as a painter of historical maritime scenes. In his preparatory sketches of ships, Gribble made notes on the precise structure and names of sails, masts, and rigging. He had studied the movement of water closely, and made highly technical analyses of the construction of rigging and sails. He also paid close attention to the detail of costume.
Gribble exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon. Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of many celebrity owners of Gribble paintings.He purchased a painting showing the arrival of American destroyers at Queenstown in Ireland, during World War I. It hung in the Oval Office of the White House when Roosevelt became United States President in 1933. Roosevelt also purchased Surrender of the German Fleet to the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. Gribble had been one of the few civilian witnesses to this event in 1918; in his capacity as Official Maritime Painter to the Shipwrights' Company.
Gribble was in demand as an illustrator, and his work appeared in many leading magazines, including '"The Illustrated London News and '"The Graphic. He illustrated numerous books, his work appearing even on royal postcards and chocolate boxes. More on Bernard Finnigan Gribble
Robert Taylor
The Battle of Trafalgar
Oil on Canvas
24 inches x 20 inches (61cm x 51cm)
Victory breaking through the enemy line at 1.00pm 21st October 1805. A broadside has crippled Admiral Villeneuve’s French flagship Bucentaure, seen off Victory’s port side, while Nelson's gunners fire a second broadside into the Santisima Trinidad. Just astern, the Temeraire maneuvers to trap the Redoubtable between herself and Victory, and thus seals her fate. More on this painting
M. Thompson (British, 19th. Century)
The Battle of Trafalgar , c. 1844
Oil on canvas
76 x 111.4cm. (29 7/8 x 43 7/8in.)
Private Collection
This panorama of the battle is essentially an exact copy of the work by George Chambers, Senior (1803-40) (Below), painted in 1839 and now held in the National Collection at Greenwich. The work by Chambers however was itself a copy of the primary original by W. Clarkson Stanfield (1793-1867), executed and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836 and currently owned by the Institute of Directors in London (below).
The scene shows the centre of the action at 2.30pm., about an hour and a half after Nelson was mortally wounded, and also identifies the vessels depicted, from the left, as “Royal Sovereign” [Collingwood’s flagship], “Santa Ana”, “Belleisle” [both wrecks], “Mars”, “Fougeux”, “Temeraire”, “Redoubtable”, “Victory”, “Bucentaure”, “Neptune” and “Santisima Trinidad”. More on this painting
George Chambers I (1803–1840)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: Death of Nelson (copy after William Clarkson Stanfield)
National Maritime Museum
George Hyde Chambers (23 October 1803 – 29 October 1840), see below
Tom W. Freeman, (1952 - 2015)
The Nelson Touch
Oil on canvas
21 3/8" x 30 1/2"
Private Collection
H.M.S. Victory breaking the line of the combined French and Spanish fleets in the beginning of the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805. More on this painting
Tom W.Freeman (1952 - 2015) was born in Pontiac, Michigan. The Freeman's lived in Michigan until Tom was 12 years old when the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Tom never had any formal art training. In fact school was of very little interest to him. Tom joined the U.S. Marine Corp Reserve in 1970. He later transferred from the Marine Corps Reserve to the regular Army.
Tom's professional art career started when he left the military. He would visit the U.S. Naval Institute and would take samples of his work to them. Finally, he asked what it would take to get his artwork on Proceedings Magazine. Dell Kaiser showed Tom the artwork of Carl Evers. Tom contacted Carl and to this day considers Mr. Evers the master of watercolors.
The first publisher to contact him and offer him a cover was G.P. Putnam & Sons. Tom has since worked with most of the publishing houses. In 1986 Tom was asked to hang his original paintings in the West Wing of the White House. Currently, there are 8 original paintings hanging there along with several of his limited edition prints. Tom was awarded the Department of the Navy Superior Public Service Award on April 3, 2003 and the 2003 Gold and Platinum Ozzie Award by Popular Mechanics Magazine... Tom also won the SILA award for the 42nd Society of Illustrators Los Angeles annual contest. Winning the silver award for Editorial Artwork.
Tom was selected as the first artist in residence to the United States Naval Institute. As well as, became Artist in Residence for NOAA in 2013.
Tom passed away suddenly on June 16, 2015. He will be greatly missed but his artwork and legacy will live on. More on Tom W.Freeman
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield, 1793–1867
Sketch for ‘The Battle of Trafalgar, and the Victory of Lord Nelson over the Combined French and Spanish Fleets, October 21, 1805’, c. 1833
Oil paint on oak
387 x 803 mm
Tate Britain
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield was regarded as the greatest British marine artist of his day. The public preferred the immediacy and high finish of his sea paintings, to the misty visions of J. M. W. Turner's later years, and John Ruskin praised him at length in Modern Painters (1843–60), drawing particular attention to his truthfully observed skies and his astonishing ability to render the movement and transparency of water. His most impressive work is the vast Battle of Trafalgar (1836; London, United Services Club). It combines his expertise at drawing ships with the scene painter's talent for working on a large scale. More on Clarkson Frederick Stanfield
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield 1793–1867
The Battle of Trafalgar, c. 1833
Oil on canvas
United Services Club in Pall Mall, London
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (sometimes erroneously called "William Clarkson Stanfield"), was born on December 3, 1793 in Sunderland, England. As a young boy, Clarkson was apprenticed to a Heraldic painter in Edinburgh, but after two years he left and went to sea in a merchant ship at the age of fifteen (1808). In 1812, he was pressed into the navy. During his time in the navy he used the alias "Roderick Bland". After an accident left him unfit for service he was discharged from the Navy in December, 1814. In 1815 he sailed on the merchant ship Warley for China. He returned a year later. He was supposed to set sail on another merchant ship but it never sailed. In need of work, he started on a new career of theatre scene painter in east London. Clarkson had done painting throughout his naval career, doing up theatre scenes for some naval productions as well as some painting and sketches.
As his scene painting career blossomed, Clarkson did not neglect his easel painting. He first exhibited in 1820, and was recognised as a marine painter of great promise. He was one of the founders of the Society of British Artists in 1823, becoming its President in 1829, the same year he sent his first picture to the Royal Academy. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy and a Royal Academician in 1832 and 1835. In late 1834 he resigned as scene painter for Drury Lane and devoted most of his time to easel pictures. He never left scene painting entirely, though most of his later work was done for friends.
Painting in both oil and watercolour he specialised in shipping, coastal and river scenes, making regular visits to Italy, France and Holland and painting many Venetian views in the 1830s and Dutch scenes in the 1840s. He was commissioned to paint the Battle of Trafalgar in 1836, for the United Services Club in Pall Mall, London, where it still hang
Clarkson Stanfield is regarded as one of England's finest marine painters, and to Ruskin he was "the leader of the English realists". He was held in great esteem, and no artist could have shown more knowledge of ships and sea conditions. He was considered Turner's nearest rival as a delineator of cloud forms.
He died in Hampstead on May 18, 1867 after 10 years of poor health. His works are today represented in many English Collections and Galleries, including the British Museum and the Victorian and Albert Museum in London. His Studio sale was held at Christie's on the 8th May 1868. More on Clarkson Frederick Stanfield
J. M. W. Turner, (1775–1851)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 1824
Oil on canvas
National Maritime Museum
The painting combines events from several times during the battle. Nelson's famous signal ("England expects that every man will do his duty") flies from the Victory (11:50); the top-mizzenmast falls (13:00); the Achille is on fire in the background (late afternoon) and the Redoutable sinks in the foreground (following day).
Turner shows the Victory flying her signal flags from the main-mast, although in actuality they would have been flown from the en:mizzen-mast and were replaced with the signal for "engage the enemy more closely" once the battle commenced. More on this painting
J. M. W. Turner, (1775–1851)
The Battle of Trafalgar, c. 1824
Detail
This painting was ordered by King George IV for the Painted Hall at Greenwich, as a pendant for Louthebourg's Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June. It shows the Royal Navy ship HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. It was controversial at the time, since it was not considered to be historically accurate. Turner chose to combine events from several times during the battle. More on this painting
Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. He is commonly known as "the painter of light"[2] and his work is regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism. More on Joseph Mallord William Turner
J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851)
The Battle of Trafalgar, as seen from the starboard mizzen shrouds of the Victory, circa 1806
Oil on canvas
172.7 × 238.8 cm (68 × 94 in)
Tate Britain
Turner made close observation of the ships shown here, but the painting of the battle in which Admiral Nelson died is not simply detailed reportage. Sails and cannon smoke arrest the eye, creating a claustrophobic backdrop, while the action appears to thrust outwards. The viewer is confronted by both the chaos of battle and the intimate tragedy of Nelson’s final moments. A contemporary reviewer termed this a ‘British epic picture...the first picture of the kind that has ever...been exhibited’. More on this painting
Ivan Berryman, (b. 1958)
Trafalgar
Oil on Canvas
101.6 x 56cm
Private Collector
In this scene, the battered remains of Victory can be seen beneath the figurehead of the Spanish 74 Principe de Asturias which dominates the foreground. Beside her, the hulk of the Redoutable sags in the water as Temeraire breaks free. In the centre, the British 74 Leviathan is engaging the French 80-gun Neptune, whilst the San Augustin can be seen firing at the extreme right of the picture. More on this painting
Ivan emerged from high school in 1974 and started working as a professional photographer, but painting for a living occupied just a third of his time during the 1980s, the other two thirds being made up of starting a family and pursuing his musical aspirations. He sold his first paintings in 1978. Many of his father's contacts were impressed enough by these early paintings to commission pictures from him and he was soon on his way to a full time career in art. In time, various publishers began to produce his paintings in the form of greeting cards, calendars and limited edition prints and many have been used in books and magazines all over the world.
Today, he is still very busy with private commissioned works and paintings for his military publisher, Cranston Fine Arts, but now divides his time between the military art and a range of other subjects to add to his broad portfolio. In 2013, Ivan was commissioned to research and write a book about the life of Austro-Hungarian WW1 ace Hauptmann Godwin von Brumowski and his part in the war on the Italian Front. Many of Ivan's paintings were used to illustrate the book and gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his writing skills. More on Ivan Berryman
J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851)
The Battle of Trafalgar, as seen from the starboard mizzen shrouds of the Victory, circa 1806
Detail
The picture painted by the artist on the basis of sketches made during the battle on board the Victory.
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
First Sketch for ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’, c.1823
Oil paint on canvas
902 x 1213 mm
Tate Britain
This sketch and the next were made in preparation for Turner’s first and only royal commission, a huge painting to commemorate the battle of Trafalgar (above). In this design, Turner is plotting the relative positions of the boats, with Nelson’s Victory dominating the scene. The composition at this stage was very static. The more dynamic final work (above) was to be criticised by naval officers for its inaccuracy. More on this painting
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Second Sketch for ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’, c.1823
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
902 x 1213 mm
Tate Britain
This sketch for the Battle of Trafalgar shows Turner attempting to animate the composition. A sky filled with cloud and smoke bears down upon the sea, where figures and waves create dramatic diagonals. Turner enhanced this sense of frantic motion in the final version, by turning the ship slightly towards the viewer and filling its sails with wind. A calmer image of pomp and ceremony may have been more to King George IV’s taste, as he later had the finished painting removed to Greenwich. More on this painting
John Callow, (British, 1822-1878)
H.M.S. “Victory” heavily engaged at Trafalgar
Oil on canvas
61 x 91.4cm. (24 x 36in.)
Private Collection
Clearly showing H.M.S. “Victory” embroiled in a close action with two enemy “74’s” either side of her, the vessel on “Victory’s” port quarter is shown flying the Spanish flag from her foremasthead even though, in fact, Nelson’s flagship only found herself engaging French ships throughout the battle. Nevertheless, the sight of “Victory” being pounded by two adversaries at once was all too true and she suffered terrible damage, including the loss of her mizzen mast, from which she barely survived the day. As the perfect foil for “Victory’s” steadfastness however, Callow heightens the overall sense of British achievement with his portrayal of the disabled Spanish four-decker listing heavily in the foreground. The only four-decker ever built and the largest sailing warship in the world, the mighty “Santisima Trinidad” mounted 140 guns and was the principal Spanish flagship. Already a veteran of the battle of Cape St. Vincent, she was thought impregnable but took a tremendous battering at Trafalgar and eventually surrendered to H.M.S. “Prince” [Captain Grindall]. Even in her damaged state she was still a hugely valuable prize and many an English purse felt her loss keenly when she foundered in heavy weather on 24th October whilst making for Gibraltar under her prize crew. More on this painting
Philip James de Loutherbourg, (1740–1812)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805
Kelmarsh Hall
Philip James de Loutherbourg RA (31 October 1740 – 11 March 1812), whose name is sometimes given in the French form of Philippe-Jacques, the German form of Philipp Jakob, or with the English-language epithet of the Younger, was a Franco-British painter who became known for his large naval works, his elaborate set designs for London theatres, and his invention of a mechanical theatre called the "Eidophusikon". He also had an interest in faith-healing and the occult and was a companion of Cagliostro.More on Philip James de Loutherbourg
Louis-Philippe Crépin, (1772–1851)
"Le Redoutable à la bataille de Trafalgar"
The Redoutable at the battle of Trafalgar, between the Temeraire (on the left) and the Victory on the right, c. 1807
Oil on canvas
Musée national de la Marine, Paris
Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772–1851)
Scene of the Battle of Trafalgar, c. 1807
Detail
Note the way the French artist depicts Victory's ensign dragging in the water
Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772–1851), see above
Already ravaged by incoming shot from the combined French and Spanish fleets as she approached the enemy line, HMS Victory found herself under intense attack from the French 3rd Rate 74-gun Redoutable. The two ships became entangled, grappling irons went across and the most terrible artillery battle commenced. Now the British three-decker, the 98-gun Temeraire appeared outboard of the Redoutable and began pouring further shot into her, the little French ship dwarfed by two mighty British vessels. But still she fought on, refusing to strike her colours. Of all the ships at Trafalgar, Redoutable sustained the highest casualties with 478 killed and 81 wounded. Depicted from left to right are HMS Temeraire, Redoutable and HMS Victory. More on this painting
Ivan Berryman
The Brave Redoutable
Oil on Canvas
36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm)
Private Collection
Already ravaged by incoming shot from the combined French and Spanish fleets as she approached the enemy line, HMS Victory found herself under intense attack from the French 3rd Rate 74-gun Redoutable. The two ships became entangled, grappling irons went across and the most terrible artillery battle commenced. Now the British three-decker, the 98-gun Temeraire appeared outboard of the Redoutable and began pouring further shot into her, the little French ship dwarfed by two mighty British vessels. But still she fought on, refusing to strike her colours. Of all the ships at Trafalgar, Redoutable sustained the highest casualties with 478 killed and 81 wounded. Depicted from left to right are HMS Temeraire, Redoutable and HMS Victory. More on this painting
Auguste Étienne François Mayer, (Brest, 1805 - Brest, 1890)
The Redoutable at Trafalgar, c. 1836
Oil on canvas
105 cm x 162 cm
Musée National de la Marine, Paris.
Artist's conception of HMS Sandwich fighting the French flagship Bucentaure (completely dismasted) at Trafalgar. Bucentaure is also fighting HMS Temeraire (on the left) and being fired into by HMS Victory (behind her). In fact, this is a mistake by Auguste Mayer, the painter; HMS Sandwich never fought at Trafalgar
The ship in the foreground on right (firing to the Bucentaure) is the British 2nd-rate Sandwich, not present at Trafalgar, actually being hulked for harbour duty at the time. It is therefore generally held that the Sandwich is actually the British 2nd-rate Temeraire, incorrectly titled by the artist, and the dismasted ship in foreground left is the French 74-gun 3rd-rate Redoutable.
Research shows that the French ship in the foreground is actually Bucentaure, as the figurehead is that of Bucentaure, the ship is a two-decker fitting the description and design of Bucentaure and the men clustered around the mainmast fit with the events aboard the Bucentaure during the battle. More on this painting
Auguste Étienne François Mayer (Brest, 1805 - Brest, 1890)
Detail; The Redoutable at Trafalgar, c. 1836
Oil on canvas
L'Empire des Mers
William Barnett Spencer, (active from 1840 to 1874)
The Battle of Trafalgar, “Victory” engaging the Spanish flagship “Santisima Trinidad” with her port guns and the French ‘74’ “Redoubtable” on her starboard side
Oil on Canvas
48.2 x 78.8cm. (19 x 31in.
Private Collection
“Victory” engaging the Spanish flagship “Santisima Trinidad” on her port side and the French “Redoubtable” with her starboard guns. An enigmatic interloper is a frigate named “Captain” however, shown sailing through the main action although seemingly taking no part in it. This appears to be an inexplicable error by the artist as not only was H.M.S. “Captain” a 74-gun 3rd rate rather than a frigate, but she took no part whatsoever in the battle of Trafalgar. More on this painting
William Barnett Spencer, active from 1840 to 1874, was a ship’s portraitist who worked in England during the last half of the nineteenth century. Thought to be the brother of Richard Barnett Spencer, an artist with similar talents. W B Spencer worked mainly on commissions. Spencer’s paintings often featured backgrounds filled with other shipping and maritime activity. More on William Barnett Spencer
Rado Javor, Slovakia
Sovereign Of The Seas
Sovereign of the Seas was a 17th-century warship of the English Navy. She was ordered as a 90-gun first-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns at the insistence of the king. It was later renamed HMS Sovereign, and then HMS Royal Sovereign at the Restoration of Charles II.
The elaborately gilded stern ordered by Charles I of England meant enemy ships knew it as the "Golden Devil". She was launched on 13 October 1637, and served from 1638 until 1697, when a fire burnt the ship to the waterline at Chatham. More on Sovereign of the Seas
Rado Javor has a long history as a digital artist. In games, it goes back at least as far as 1995, as he became second at the Demobit 95 Graphics competition with a drawing of Turrican. More on Rado Javor
Timothy Franklin Ross Thompson, (British, b. 1951)
H.M.S. “Bellerophon” engaging two enemy “74’s” at Trafalgar
Oil on Canvas
61 x 91.4 cm. (24 x 36 in.)
Private Collection
Sold for £ 5,400 in Jul 2005
“Bellerophon”, under the command of Captain John Cooke, was the fifth ship in Admiral Collingwood’s Lee Column at Trafalgar and by the time she broke through the enemy line, the Spanish “Monarca” had already struck her colours and was awaiting her captors. In the absence of any boarding party to take possession of her however, she promptly re-hoisted her colours and engaged “Bellerophon” as soon as the latter came within range. Despite his careful manoeuvring, Captain Cooke suddenly found himself being fired upon by “L’Aigle” as well, and the two enemy “74’s” pounded “Bellerophon” for some time during which Cooke himself was killed. After a tremendous fight, “Monarca” finally surrendered and Midshipman Henry Walker boarded her with a prize crew. “L’Aigle” meanwhile escaped “Bellerophon’s” clutches but, shortly afterwards, was captured by H.M.S. “Defiance”.More on Bellerophon
Timothy Franklin Ross Thompson ( b. 1951) is a respected, world-renowned oil painter, and one of the undisputed leaders of today’s generation of marine artists. Born in Hull, England in 1951, Thompson spent his childhood in the Channel Islands, where his interest in the sea and sailing first developed. A self-taught painter, Thompson began his artistic career when he was 27, establishing his reputation with nautical paintings whose subjects ranged from the fighting ships of Drake’s era to modern racing yachts and the America’s Cup competitions. His works also include various historic and period seascapes and marine art, including heroic rescues at sea. Thompson’s work is characterized by his use of traditional oil techniques. Placing layer upon layer of translucent wash on canvas, he produces a luminosity rarely seen in contemporary marine paintings. He has been much praised for his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to create dramatic and atmospheric images. Displaying an elegance and sophistication reminiscent of works by the 19th century masters of marine art, Thompson’s works are widely collected by marine art connoisseurs around the world. - Tim Thompson. More on Timothy Franklin Ross Thompson
Auguste Etienne Francois Mayer (1805–1890)
Trafalgar, c. 1836
Source Scanned from L'Empire des Mers, Martine Acerra & Jean Meyer
William Lionel Wyllie, (1851–1931)
Battle Of Trafalgar
Oil on canvas
42-foot (13 m)
Juno Tower, CFB Halifax NovaScotia
Wyllie campaigned vigorously for the restoration of HMS Victory as a founder member of the Society for Nautical Research, and in 1930 his 42-foot (13 m) panorama of the Battle of Trafalgar was unveiled by King George V. The painting is seen by about 100,000 people every year where it still hangs in the Royal Naval Museum within the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth. Auguste Etienne Francois Mayer
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see below
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see below
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see below
Battle of Trafalgar, Circa 1920
Set of three etchings
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see below
Battle of Trafalgar, Circa 1920
Set of three etchings
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see below
Battle of Trafalgar, Circa 1920
Set of three etchings
William Lionel Wyllie (London 5 July 1851 – 6 April 1931 London) was a prolific English painter of maritime themes in
both oils and watercolours. He has been described as "the most
distinguished marine artist of his day." His work is in the Tate, the
Royal Academy, the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum and many
other institutions around the world. More on William Lionel Wyllie
John Steven Dews (British, b. 1949)
The battle of Trafalgar
H.M.S. “Victory” breaking the enemy line and raking the stern of the French flagship as she goes through
Oil on canvas
101.6 x 167.6cm. (40 x 66in.)
Privately held
Steven, who had been turned down by various naval institutions, settled for Hull Regional College of Art where he graduated in Technical Graphics and Illustration. He moved back to his parents and borrowed a friend’s derelict farmhouse on the northern banks of the Humber. Here, where the light, the skies and the atmosphere were perfect, Steven spent hours painting in a makeshift studio.
In 1976, his first exhibition was mounted. Virtually the whole body of work was sold on the first night and seventeen commissions were received. The following year he had an exhibition in San Francisco which sold out to large critical acclaim and heralded a secure future as an artist. As a consequence of the number of commissions gained from this exhibition, much of Steven’s work from this period was to cross the Atlantic.
His pictures also formed a major one-man touring fund-raising exhibition opened by HRH The Prince of Wales in support of the excavation of the site of the ”Mary Rose”, Henry VIII’s warship. The exhibition was scheduled for twenty-four destinations around the UK including the National Maritime Museum, and closed at Amoco’s headquarters in Chicago.
As Steven’s reputation blossomed, so did his lifelong affair with the sea. He was able to buy his first yacht and, when not painting the sea, was out sailing on it. In his studio he concentrated on the meticulous detail essential for the accuracy and realism of his painting. Always demanding perfection from his work, he developed techniques to help him.
He lives and loves the subject he paints, with much of his spare time spent sailing. 'How is it possible to express the air and sea and sky without having experienced the elements, knowing how a ship works, pulled the ropes ?' he asks. More on John Steven Dews
Richard Brydges Beechey (1808–1895)
Destruction by Fire of the Gun Ship 'Achille' at the Close of the Battle of Trafalgar
Oil on canvas
90 x 136 cm
Plymouth City Council: Museum and Art Gallery
Oil on canvas
49 x 79 cm
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth
Oil on glass
35.4 x 24.9 cm
Nelson Museum and Local History Centre
Sold for £ 95,200 in Jul 2005
John Steven Dews (British, b. 1949) was born in Beverley, North Humberside in 1949. He has risen from a boy who failed his art 'A' level to become Britain's most sought-after living marine artist. His grandfather was then Assistant Dockmaster at the Hull Docks. He were brought up on a tradition of the sea, the family being able to trace their nautical connections back to the seventeenth century.
Steven, who had been turned down by various naval institutions, settled for Hull Regional College of Art where he graduated in Technical Graphics and Illustration. He moved back to his parents and borrowed a friend’s derelict farmhouse on the northern banks of the Humber. Here, where the light, the skies and the atmosphere were perfect, Steven spent hours painting in a makeshift studio.
He studied photographs, reference books, model ships and architectural drawings, especially noting the sea and sky in their various moods and produced hundreds of pencil sketches graduating to accurate drawings incorporating measurements.
In 1976, his first exhibition was mounted. Virtually the whole body of work was sold on the first night and seventeen commissions were received. The following year he had an exhibition in San Francisco which sold out to large critical acclaim and heralded a secure future as an artist. As a consequence of the number of commissions gained from this exhibition, much of Steven’s work from this period was to cross the Atlantic.
His pictures also formed a major one-man touring fund-raising exhibition opened by HRH The Prince of Wales in support of the excavation of the site of the ”Mary Rose”, Henry VIII’s warship. The exhibition was scheduled for twenty-four destinations around the UK including the National Maritime Museum, and closed at Amoco’s headquarters in Chicago.
As Steven’s reputation blossomed, so did his lifelong affair with the sea. He was able to buy his first yacht and, when not painting the sea, was out sailing on it. In his studio he concentrated on the meticulous detail essential for the accuracy and realism of his painting. Always demanding perfection from his work, he developed techniques to help him.
He lives and loves the subject he paints, with much of his spare time spent sailing. 'How is it possible to express the air and sea and sky without having experienced the elements, knowing how a ship works, pulled the ropes ?' he asks. More on John Steven Dews
Rado Javor, Slovakia
HMS Victory fighting with the French Bucentaure
Destruction by Fire of the Gun Ship 'Achille' at the Close of the Battle of Trafalgar
Oil on canvas
90 x 136 cm
Plymouth City Council: Museum and Art Gallery
Under the command of Captain Louis Gabriel Deniéport, the Achille sailed at the vanguard of the French Fleet. As the San Ildefonso surrendered to HMS Defence, the Achille took advantage of a light wind to attempt to fill the gap in the line. She then found herself trapped between HMS Defiance and HMS Dreadnought, losing all of her rigging save for her lower masts.
At 1.00 p.m, Achille was slowly sinking, but still managed to cut off Dreadnought's main-mast and fore-mast. At 4.00, HMS Prince joined in. After 15 minutes, a fire broke out in Achille's mizzen top. The next broadside against her brought her blazing main mast down, engulfing the ship in flames. Knowing that her opponent's fate was sealed, Richard Grindall, the Prince's captain, ceased firing and wore round to clear the Achille before placing boats in the water to rescue the French seamen, as Achille's crew attempted to abandon ship. This proved hazardous as the Achille's abandoned but loaded guns were set off by the intense heat now raging below decks. 158 French sailors were saved.
The fires eventually reached her magazine and she blew up spectacularly at 5.45 p.m., taking 480 with her, and foundered quickly, her colours high, marking the end of the battle. More on Gun Ship Achille
Richard Brydges Beechey (1808 – 14 March 1895) was an Anglo-Irish painter and Admiral in the Royal Navy. Beechey joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, and eventually rose to the rank of admiral. Like his father and two of his brothers he was a celebrated painter, who illustrated various ports and naval scenes.
After the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, Beechey sailed in HMS Blossom, commanded by his brother Frederick William Beechey, into the Pacific, and then to the Bering Strait to attempt to support the Franklin Expedition. He was promoted lieutenant in 1828. Then he served in the Mediterranean, and in 1835 was seconded to a survey of Ireland. He was made commander in 1846, and then in 1851 was promoted captain. In 1879, long after the end of his active naval career, he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral on the retired list.
After his retirement from the Navy in 1864 he settled in Ireland, living for many years at Monkstown, and later in Pembroke Road, Dublin. He regularly exhibited paintings of maritime subjects at the Royal Hibernian Academy, of which was made an honorary member in 1868. In about 1877 he settled at Plymouth. More on Richard Brydges Beechey
Gerhard Geidel (1925–2011)
HMS 'Victory' at TrafalgarOil on canvas
49 x 79 cm
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth
Gerhard Geidel (* 9. June 1925 ; † 24. January 2011 ) was a German marine painter and illustrator. The self-taught Geidel, from Kleinmachnow, was one of the major German naval painters of the 20th Century . He painted ships and boats of all types and ages. Also popular are his Potsdam and Berlin paintings, often historical views. More on Gerhard Geidel
Unknown artist
Nelson Wounded at Trafalgar, c. 1805Oil on glass
35.4 x 24.9 cm
Nelson Museum and Local History Centre
Samuel Drummond (1765–1844)
Repulsing a Boarding Party, c.1805
Oil on canvas
53.5 x 43 cm
National Maritime Museum
This sketch may be a scheme for a larger painting, possibly ‘Boarding an Enemy’ which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1805. In the top left corner, and below the Marine officer, is the shadowy figure of Nelson with an outstretched left arm and an empty sleeve on the right. The artist demonstrates his interest in dramatic visual effects with the powerfully depicted figures in the foreground, poised for combat amidst swirling smoke. More on this painting
The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the eighteenth century and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy. This involved engaging an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy to facilitate signalling in battle and disengagement, and to maximise fields of fire and target areas. Nelson instead divided his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the enemy fleet, with decisive results.
Samuel Drummond (25 December 1766, London - 6 August 1844, London) was a British painter, especially prolific in portraying and marine genre. His works are displayed particularly in the National Portrait Gallery, National Maritime Museum and the Walker Art Gallery. More on Samuel Drummond
Denis Dighton (1792–1827)
The Fall of Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, circa 1825
Nelson being shot on the quarterdeck of Victory
National Maritime Museum
Denis Dighton (1792–1827)
The Fall of Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, circa 1825
Detail
Denis Dighton (1792 – 8 August 1827) was an English painter, best known for his military portraits and battle scenes. He was the son of the caricaturist Robert Dighton and a younger brother was Richard Dighton. He enrolled as a student of the Royal Academy in 1807 and exhibited 17 pictures there between 1811 and 1825.
He enjoyed the patronage of the Prince of Wales, who had been a close friend of his mother. Through the influence of the prince, he received a commission in the army in 1811, however, he soon returned to civilian life. By 1814 he had received the title of Military Painter to H.R.H. the Prince Regent. The prince sent Dighton to the Southern Netherlands just before the Battle of Waterloo, and seems to have bought all his exhibited pictures. Dighton visited the Waterloo battlefield five days after the victory and executed nine paintings of the battle.
He fell from royal favour when his intermediary with the Prince Regent, Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, lost his place in the royal household, to be replaced by Sir William Knighton. After this loss of patronage, Dighton became mentally ill; he moved with his wife and son to Brittany, where he lived supported by the Artists' Benevolent Fund until his death at the age of 35 on 8 August 1827.
Dighton is mostly known for his paintings of battle scenes especially depicting the Peninsular War and Waterloo; he also painted a scene of Nelson being shot at the Battle of Trafalgar. More on Denis Dighton
Samuel Drummond (1765–1844)
The Death of Nelson, c. 1806
Oil on canvas
133 x 160 cm
The Nelson Museum
Samuel Drummond (25 December 1766, London - 6 August 1844, London), see above
Samuel Drummond (1765–1844)
The Death of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, c.1806
oil on canvas
73.5 x 91.5 cm
National Maritime Museum
One of a series of paintings of the same subject by Drummond, showing a setting of ‘Victory’’s middle deck whereas this seems to be on the quarter-deck. At Trafalgar, Nelson (on the quarter-deck) was struck by a musket ball fired from the French ‘Redoutable’ at approximately 1.30pm. Mortally wounded he was rapidly carried below so that the men around him would not lose heart. Drummond’s composition pays homage to imagery relating to the deposition from the Cross. More
Samuel Drummond (25 December 1766, London - 6 August 1844, London), see above
Benjamin West (1738–1820)
The Death of Nelson, c. 1806
Oil on canvas
Height: 182 mm (7.17 in). Width: 247.5 mm (9.74 in).
Walker Art Gallery
Benjamin West (1738–1820)
The Death of Lord Nelson in the Cockpit of the Ship 'Victory, c. 1808
Oil on canvas
88.5 x 73 cm
National Maritime Museum
The scene in the cockpit of 'Victory' during the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805. The narrative combines the portraiture of the principal figures with an enhanced history painting and shows Lord Nelson's dying moments. He lies propped on pillows, with his shirt ripped open and he draped in a white sheet. West evokes neo-classical funerary statuary through his emphasis on Nelson's pallor. More
Benjamin West PRA (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence and the Seven Years' War. He was the second president of the Royal Academy in London, serving from 1792 to 1805 and 1806 to 1820. He was offered a knighthood by the British Crown, but declined it, believing that he should instead be made a peer. He said that "Art is the representation of human beauty, ideally perfect in design, graceful and noble in attitude. More on Benjamin West
Arthur William Devis (10 August 1762 – 11 February 1822)
Death of Nelson Arthur, c. 1807
Oil on canvas
195.6 x 261.6 cm
National Maritime Museum
(Greenwich Hospital Collection)
Arthur William Devis (10 August 1762 – 11 February 1822)
Death of Nelson Arthur, c. 1807
Detail
Arthur William Devis (10 August 1762 – 11 February 1822) was an English painter of history paintings and portraits. He was appointed draughtsman on the British East India Company's packet Antelope in a voyage in 1783, under Captain Henry Wilson. He painted portraits and historical subjects, sixty-five of which he exhibited (1779–1821) at the Royal Academy.
He is noted for being involved in the creation of the posthumous cult of Horatio Nelson. He painted a heroic Death of Nelson, for which he made sketches (including one of Nelson's body during the autopsy by Dr Beatty, the ship's surgeon) on board HMS Victory after her return from Trafalgar.
Devis also painted Dr Beatty, and was commissioned by him to produce a half-length painting of Nelson as vice-admiral, which he lent to Emma Hamilton (who later lost it in an accident whilst travelling). Either the original or a copy of this portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy two years after the Battle and many copies were made of it (Lord Howe owned one, and another ended up in the collection of the National Maritime Museum), and it was also engraved in Beatty's account of Nelson's death. More on Arthur William Devis
Daniel Maclise (1811–1870)
The Death of Nelson, c. (1859 - 1864)
Oil on canvas
Height: 9,850 mm (387.79 in). Width: 35,300 mm (1,389.76 in)
Walker Art Gallery
Daniel Maclise (1811–1870)
The Death of Nelson, c. (1859 - 1864)
Detail
The Death of Nelson, c. (1859 - 1864)
Detail
. . . About fifteen minutes past one o'clock, which was in the heat of the engagement, Nelson was walking the middle of the quarter-deck with Captain Hardy, and in the act of turning near the hatchway with his face towards the stern of the Victory, when the fatal ball was fired from the enemy's mizzen-top. . .
The ball struck the epaulette on his left shoulder, and penetrated his chest. He fell with his face on the deck. Captain Hardy, who was on his right (the side furthest from the enemy) and advanced some steps before his lordship, on turning round, saw the Sergeant Major of Marines with two seamen raising him from the deck; where he had fallen on the same spot on which, a little before, his secretary had breathed his last, with whose blood his lordship's clothes were much soiled. Captain Hardy expressed a hope that he was not severely wounded; to which the gallant Chief replied: 'They have done for me at last, Hardy.' - 'I hope not,' answered Captain Hardy. 'Yes,' replied his lordship; 'my backbone is shot through.'
Dr. William Beatty was a physician aboard the Victory and attended Nelson as he lay dying. More on this painting
Daniel Maclise, (born Jan. 25, 1806, Cork, County Cork, Ire.—died April 25, 1870, London) Irish historical painter whose fame rests chiefly on a series of lithograph portraits of contemporary celebrities and on two vast frescoes that he painted in the Royal Gallery in the House of Lords.
At the age of 16 he left the employ of a local bank to enter the Cork school of art. He went to London in 1827 and entered the Royal Academy schools, where he carried off the highest honours. He exhibited subject pictures and portraits regularly at the Royal Academy and in 1835 was elected associate and in 1840, academician.
The 72 lithograph portraits of literary and other contemporary celebrities for which he is best known first appeared in Fraser’s Magazine (1830–36) under the pseudonym Alfred Croquis). Of the two frescoes, “The Death of Nelson” was executed between 1861 and 1864. Maclise painted these large murals alone, under lamentable conditions. By the time of their completion, he was exhausted and never fully regained his health. More on Daniel Maclise
Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle and died shortly after, becoming one of Britain's greatest war heroes. Villeneuve was captured along with his ship Bucentaure. Admiral Federico Gravina, the senior Spanish flag officer, escaped with the remnant of the fleet and succumbed months later to wounds sustained during the battle. Villeneuve attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain.
Tom Freeman, (1952 - 2015)
1805 Trafalgar, HMS Belleisle
I have no further description, at this time
1805 Trafalgar, HMS Belleisle
I have no further description, at this time
HMS Swiftsure comes to the rescue of HMS Belle Isle
Tom Freeman (1952 - 2015) was born in Pontiac, Michigan. The
Freeman's lived in Michigan until Tom was 12 years old when the family moved to
Baltimore, Maryland. Tom never had any formal art training. In fact school was
of very little interest to him. Tom joined the U.S. Marine Corp Reserve in
1970. He later transferred from the Marine Corps Reserve to the regular Army.
Tom's
professional art career started when he left the military. He would visit the
U.S. Naval Institute and would take samples of his work to them. Finally, he
asked what it would take to get his artwork on Proceedings Magazine. Dell
Kaiser showed Tom the artwork of Carl Evers. Tom contacted Carl and to this day
considers Mr. Evers the master of watercolors.
The first
publisher to contact him and offer him a cover was G.P. Putnam & Sons. Tom
has since worked with most of the publishing houses. In 1986 Tom was asked to
hang his original paintings in the West Wing of the White House. Currently,
there are 8 original paintings hanging there along with several of his limited
edition prints. Tom was awarded the Department of the Navy Superior Public
Service Award on April 3, 2003 and the 2003 Gold and Platinum Ozzie Award by
Popular Mechanics Magazine... Tom also won the SILA award for the 42nd Society
of Illustrators Los Angeles annual contest. Winning the silver award for
Editorial Artwork.
Tom was
selected as the first artist in residence to the United States Naval Institute.
As well as, became Artist in Residence for NOAA in 2013.
Tom passed away suddenly on June 16, 2015. He
will be greatly missed but his artwork and legacy will live on. More
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931)
Crippled But Unconquered: The Belleisle at Trafalgar on 21st October 1805
I have no further description, at this time
In the Leeward Squadron Belleisle was stricken into a wreck by Achille and the French Neptune. Captained by William Hargood, she was the second ship in the British lee column at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and as such was engaged by the Franco-Spanish ships Achille, Aigle, Neptune, Fougueux, Santa Ana, Monarca and San Juan Nepomuceno. She was soon completely dismasted (the only British ship which suffered that fate), unable to manœuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the British ships behind her in the column came to her rescue. With 33 dead and 93 wounded, she was then towed to Gibraltar after the battle by the frigate HMS Naiad. More on The Belleisle at Trafalgar
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see above
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931), see above
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William John Huggins (1781–1845)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: Position of the Fleets at 4.30pm, after 1837
Oil on canvas
61 x 84 cm
National Maritime Museum
The painting shows the position of the fleets at 4.30 on the evening of 21 October in a rising gale. Huggins had already done a pair of large paintings of Trafalgar for the King, shown at Exeter Hall in 1834. The prime version of this one, which is chronologically the middle of the three subjects, seems to have been a separate commission.
William John Huggins (British, 1781-1845)
The Battle of Trafalgar
Pencil and watercolour heightened with white, scratching out and gum arabic
56.5 x 76.8cm. (22 1/4 x 30 1/4in.)
Privately held
In 1817 Huggins exhibited a picture in the Royal Academy, and continued to exhibit occasionally up to his death. He also exhibited at the British Institution from 1825 onwards. He became a marine-painter to George IV and to William IV - for the latter painting three large pictures of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Huggins died in Leadenhall Street, London, in May 1845. More on William John Huggins
George Chambers (1803-1840).
The Battle of Trafalgar
Oil on Canvas
210 x 150 mm
Chambers worked his way on a trading vessel to London in 1825, where he was greatly helped by Christopher Crawford, formerly of Whitby, but then landlord of the Waterman’s Arms at Wapping. His work, hanging in the gentlemen’s parlour of the inn, proved popular with its nautical clientele and won Chambers his early commissions. In 1829, two of his pictures were purchased by Admiral Thomas Capel who drew his merits to the attention of other officers including Admiral Lord Mark Kerr. The latter in turn secured him the patronage of King William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1831–32 and thereafter Chambers was an established artist.
His most important later ‘set-piece’ commission was The Bombardment of Algiers, 1816 by Lord Exmouth, commissioned by the admiral’s friends for the Naval Gallery at Greenwich Hospital in 1836 (and now in the National Maritime Museum) probably through the agency of E.H. Locker of the Hospital, Exmouth’s former secretary.
Chambers’ career was hampered by personal diffidence in promoting himself and, when he began to succeed, cut short by chronic ill health. A voyage to Madeira in the summer of 1840 failed to bring improvements and he died of heart failure at Brighton on 29 October 1840. More on George Hyde Chambers
Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: End of the Action
Oil on canvas
711 mm x 1016 mm
National Maritime Museum
This painting shows the two fleets at the end of the action at about 5.00 pm and is a bird's eye view from the south-east. In the foreground the most shattered of the British ships lie with their prizes. Beyond, the remaining ten enemy ships are making their escape. In the left foreground is the British 'Tonnant', 80 guns, in port-bow view, her topmast shot away, and astern of her the British 'Defiance', 74 guns, in port-bow view, having lost her main and mizzen topmasts. To the right of her is the French 'L'Intrepide', 74 guns, with her fore and mizzen topmast gone. In the middle of the foreground is the British 'Bellerophon', 74 guns, in port-bow view, her main and mizzen topmasts gone. Just astern of her, in port-quarter view, is the captured Spanish ship 'Monarca', 74 guns. In the right foreground is the captured Spanish 'Bahama', 74 guns, in starboard-quarter view, with the British 'Mars', 74 guns, beyond her and starboard broadside across her bows. In the extreme right, in starboard-quarter view and half out of the picture is the British 'Conqueror', 74 guns. In the middle distance, left to right and bow on, the French 'Achille', 74 guns, is burning. More on More on this painting
Robert Dodd (British, 1748-1815)
The Battle of Trafalgar – Admiral Dumanoir's surviving French Squadron escaping the carnage
Oil on canvas
63.5 x 152.4cm. (25 x 60in.)
Privately held
Robert Dodd (1748–1815), see above
As with all the great naval engagements in that far-off age when warships were dependent upon the wind for their manoeuvrability, the battle of Trafalgar had been reduced to a smoke-shrouded mêlée in which every ship fought its own corner regardless of any overall strategy. Thus, although it may appear difficult to identify the precise moment Dodd has captured in this view, it is, in fact, the point at which the handful of surviving French ships, comprising Rear-Admiral Dumanoir's flagship, "Formidable", 80-guns, the "Neptune", also 80-guns, and three '74's, "Duguay-Trouin", “Mont-Blanc” and “Scipion”, saw their opportunity to slip away to the south-east and escape.
Five such ships are clearly depicted, "Formidable" second in line, "Neptune" leading the column, and the other three astern of them. With regard to the original provenance of these paintings, a rather more unexpected inclusion is the diminutive topsail schooner H.M.S. “Pickle” on the right of the work; probably the smallest and yet fastest vessel participating in the battle, it was the ‘gallant little “Pickle”’ that Collingwood chose to take home the news of the victory and Nelson’s martyrdom. Landing at Falmouth early on 5th November, “Pickle’s” commander, Lieutenant John Lapenotiere, took a fast post-chaise to London and reached the Admiralty at 1.00am. the next morning after a breath-taking dash across the country. Given that these paintings are dated 1805, when virtually no other British naval officer who had been present at Trafalgar was back in England, it is intriguing to speculate whether it might have been Lieutenant John Lapenotiere who commissioned them in the immediate aftermath of his celebrity. More on this painting
T. B. F. Daniel
Lord Nelson's Victory over the Combined Fleets of France and Spain off Cape Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, c. 1812
Oil on canvas
162 x 300 cm
Great Yarmouth Museums
John Burnet (March 1781 or 20 March 1784 – 29 April 1868)
News of Victory at Trafalgar
Mixed method engraving, with extensive hand colouring, on wove
435 x 705mm (17 1/4 x 27 3/4in)
Privately held
In 1806, he moved from Edinburgh to London, where he became an established painter of portraits, landscapes, and rural genre scenes. Between 1808 and 1862, he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and with the Society of British Artists and was finally awarded a fellowship to the Royal Society.
As an engraver he provided illustrations for editions of Robert Burns’s poems and Walter Scott’s Waverley novels. He engraved copies of paintings of several notable portraits and artists. He also wrote manuals and books on drawing, painting and artists, retiring from public life in 1860. He died in London. More on John Burnet
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867) (after)
'Victory' Towed into Gibraltar after Trafalgar
Oil on canvas
87 x 138.5 cm
Government Art Collection
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield 1793–1867, see above
John Wilson Carmichael (British, 1799-1868)
The Arrival of the Victory with the body of Lord Nelson on board, at The Battle of Trafalgar Dec 6th 1805
Sepia wash
34.7 x 52.4cm. (13 5/8 x 20 5/8in.)
Privately held
His name first appears as an exhibitor in 1838, when he contributed an oil painting, Shipping in the Bay of Naples, to the Society of British Artists. He showed both oil paintings and watercolours at the Royal Academy, his contributions including The Conqueror towing the Africa off the Shoals of Trafalgar (1841) and The Arrival of the Royal Squadron (1843).
He lived in Newcastle until about 1845, when he moved to London, where he was already known as a skilful marine painter. In 1855, during the Crimean War he was sent to the Baltic to make drawings for the Illustrated London News. His painting of the bombardment of Sveaborg, which he witnessed during this assignment, was exhibited at the Royal Academy and is now in the collection of the National Maritime Museum.
He later moved to Scarborough, where he died in 1868. More on James Wilson Carmichael
J Hill after C A Pugin
Funeral Procession of the Late Lord Nelson, from Greenwich to Whitehall
Aquatint, 1896, with hand colouring, on wove, published by Albian Press
470 x 435mm (18 1/2 x 17 1/3in)
Privately held
James John Hill RBA (1811 – 27 January 1882), known also by his alias J. J. Hill, was an English landscape and portrait painter, known for his many rustic paintings and portraits. He was born sometime in 1811 in Broad Street, Birmingham to Daniel Hill, plater, and Elizabeth Rowlinson, the daughter of a brass founder. He was educated at Hazelwood School, and he attended Joseph Barber's art academy. His fellow pupils included Thomas Creswick, James Tibbits Willmore, Thomas Baker, and Peter Hollins.
Having moved to London in 1839, Hill was elected in 1842 a member of the Society of British Artists. There, he became known as a 'popular contributor' among his fellow artists, showing off his artwork in a number of their exhibitions across the next forty years. He operated primarily in London, painting many portraits of Lady Burdett-Coutts, a Victorian philanthropist, and her many pets. He was allegedly a good friend of hers. His paintings were known to depict mainly girls and boys and their families residing in the countryside, nature being present in almost all of his artwork, and in his later career he moved from painting mainly portraits and people to painting landscapes. Most of his landscape paintings were inspired by his visit to Ireland in 1854. He found less success in painting landscapes than he did scenes of wildlife and people.
In his later life, Hill devoted himself primarily to painting landscapes and had a number of his paintings featured in London newspapers. He died on 27 January 1882, aged 71, at Sutton House, having contracted bronchitis. More on James John Hill
Nelson's Funeral Barge
"A Correct Representation of the Funeral Barge which Conveyed the Body of the Late Lord Nelson from Greenwich to Whitehall, Jany. 8th 1806"
Published March 1806 by W.B.Walker, Fox & Knot Ct., Cow Lane
41x30.5cm(16x12in)
Privately held
William Lionel Wyllie (1851 – 1931)
'The Nelson Touch': Restoring HMS 'Victory', 1805-1925
Oil on canvas
127.5 x 186.3 cm
Royal Museums Greenwich
The 'Victory' at her permanent home in No. 2 Dry Dock, Portsmouth. She is pictured in starboard-bow view. She was dry-docked at Portsmouth in 1922 following the launch of a national appeal - the 'Save the Victory Fund' - to restore and preserve her in her Trafalgar condition, shorn of later additions. The ship was refloated for the last time on 8 April 1925 to adjust her cradle and so that her waterline was level with the top of the dock. More on this painting
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