For discussion of Guzzardi's Nelson portraits see the entry on the other Museum version, BHC2895. Unlike BHC2895 this one is full-size, unsigned and shows Nelson also wearing the official Nile gold medal round his neck (in addition to the St Vincent medal) and the Turkish Order of the Crescent, the latter received by him in November 1799. These may have been added to what started as a pre-November version but, if not, they make the canvas a variant of the later, second type of these portraits. Altogether 14 variants including copies are known: in July 2004, for example, the 'Kedge Anchor' (Newsletter of the1805 Club, no. 10. p. 16, ill.) reported a bust-length version of this 'two-medal' type (27 x 22.5 ins) on sale in California. This was reputedly the one commissioned by General Sir John Moore (and more recently in the collection of George M. Juergens, New York) despite the fact that Moore, on seeing Nelson after the Nile, had written: 'He is covered with stars, ribbons and medals, more like the Prince of the Opera than the conqueror of the Nile. It is really melancholy to see a brave and good man, who has deserved well of his country, sutting so pitiful a figure.'

In this picture all the orders are depicted pinned on the left breast of the coat. However, most of these later versions or copies, including that sent as a gift to the Sultan of Turkey, show the star of the Order of the Crescent on the right breast, alongside the large Nile gold medal that was privately issued by Nelson's agent, Alexander Davison. The Davison medal is not present in this picture, even though it was delivered to Nelson at Palermo in August 1799, before the Turkish Crescent. Although it is understandable why the Crescent was more prominently displayed on the right breast in the copy sent to the Sultan, the reason why all the orders have been placed on the left breast here is unknown, except that it was the normal convention. It was on the left that Nelson subsequently wore all the embroidered versions of his four orders (the Bath, the Crescent, the Neapolitan Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit and the German Order of St Joachim), sewn on his uniform coats.

This painting was presented to the Museum in 1946 as part of the Nelson-Ward collection, the family of Nelson's illegitimate daughter Horatia, who married the Revd. Philip Ward, Rector of Tenterden, Kent.