The Battle of Trafalgar (Tate)

For the later painting by Turner of the same battle, see The Battle of Trafalgar (Turner).
The Battle of Trafalgar
ArtistJ. M. W. Turner
Yearc. 1808
TypeOil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions172.7 cm × 238.8 cm (68.0 in × 94.0 in)
LocationTate Britain, London

The Battle of Trafalgar is a c. 1808 history painting by the British artist J.M.W. Turner. It captures the moment the British Admiral Horatio Nelson was hit by a French sniper on the deck of his flagship HMS Victory during the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar during his last but decisive victory over a combined French-Spanish fleet. It is also known by the longer title The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory.[1]

On the deck of the ship of the line Victory, amidst the raging battle, figures gathers around the fallen Nelson, while a group of Redcoated Marines exchange fire with those aboard the French ship Redoutable from which the ultimately fatal shot had come. The backdrop features a cluster of sails from the various ships of the line, and the general wreckage of the battle.

Nelson's heroic death was a popular subject in British art, with Benjamin West's The Death of Nelson enjoying great success in 1806. Rather than display it at the Royal Academy, Turner initially exhibited at his own studio gallery in Marylebone in 1806 and then, having significantly reworked it, at the British Institution's 1808 exhibition.[2] While it drew praise from John Landseer, the President of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West was more critical of the "miserably bad" figures.[3] [4]

The painting was part of the Turner Bequest to the nation following the artist's death in 1851 and is now in the collection of the Tate Britain in Pimlico.[1]

In 1822 Turner produced another, different painting The Battle of Trafalgar depicting the battle. A royal commission from King George IV, secured for Turner by the lobbying of his friend Thomas Lawrence, it was the largest ever painting he produced.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory". Tate. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  2. ^ Costello p. 16.
  3. ^ Costello pp. 16–18.
  4. ^ Tracy p. 285.
  5. ^ "Turner's 'The Battle of Trafalgar'". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 26 February 2026.

Bibliography

  • Bailey, Anthony. J.M.W. Turner: Standing in the Sun. Tate Enterprises, 2013.
  • Costello, Leo. J.M.W. Turner and the Subject of History. Routledge, 2017.
  • Tracy, Nicholas. Britannia’s Palette: The Arts of Naval Victory. McGill-Queen's Press, 2007.
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