The Death of Lord Nelson

This print expressing the emotional impact of Nelson’s death is far removed from any attempt at factual reporting. Nelson is relocated from the orlop of the ‘Victory’ to the comfort of a couch in a stylish apartment, with the battle visible in the distance through the window. This almost comical incongruity is explained by the fact that, in order to register the ideological and national significance of the event shown, the print is modelled on traditional representations of lamentation over the dead Christ, or the many sculptural and pictorial representations of the death of General Wolfe. It thus alludes to the highest artistic genre - history painting - and suggests a direct comparison between the sacrifice of Nelson and that of the famous hero-martyr of the Seven Years War.

Object Details

ID: PAD5736
Collection: Fine art
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Events: Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
Date made: 1805-1810
Exhibition: Nelson, Navy, Nation
People: Nelson, Horatio
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Caird Fund.
Measurements: Mount: 318 mm x 483 mm;Sheet: 170 mm x 192 mm