The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was one of the opening battles of the Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808), as part of the French Revolutionary Wars, where a British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated a greatly superior Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal.
Greenwich is an area in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-south-east of Charing Cross.
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, it has no general admission charge; there are admission charges for most side-gallery temporary exhibitions, usually supplemented by many loaned works from other museums.
Queen's House is a former royal residence in the London borough of Greenwich, which presently serves as a public art gallery. It was built between 1616 and 1635 on the grounds of the now demolished Greenwich Palace, a few miles downriver from the City of London. In its current setting, it forms a central focus of the Old Royal Naval College with a grand vista leading to the River Thames, a World Heritage Site called, Maritime Greenwich. The Queen's House architect, Inigo Jones, was commissioned by Queen Anne of Denmark in 1616 and again to finish the house in 1635 by Queen Henrietta Maria. The House was commissioned by both Anne and Henrietta as a retreat and place to display and enjoy the artworks they had accumulated and commissioned; this includes a ceiling of the Great Hall that features a work by Orazio Gentileschi titled Allegory of Peace and the Arts.
Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 is an 1822 painting by British artist J. M. W. Turner. It was commissioned by King George IV as a part of a series of works to decorate three state reception rooms in St James's Palace and link the Hanoverian dynasty with military success. This work was Turner's only royal commission, and was to stand as the pendant piece to Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg's Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June. This massive history painting measures 2,615 millimetres x 3,685 millimetres and is his largest work. It was given to Greenwich Hospital shortly after its original installation. The painting now hangs in the National Maritime Museum, also in Greenwich, London.
Lord Howe's Action, or the Glorious First of June is a 1795 painting by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg of the victory of British naval forces under Lord Howe over a French force led by Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse on the Glorious First of June 1794. After time in the Royal Collection of George IV, it is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum and on display in the ground floor of its Queen's House.
George Jones was a British painter, and Keeper of the Royal Academy, most famous for his paintings of military subjects.
HMS San Josef was a 114-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Originally built at Ferrol in Galicia for the Spanish Navy in 1782–83, she was captured from the Spanish Navy at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797. In 1809 she served as the flagship of Admiral John Thomas Duckworth.
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, was one of the leading British flag officers in the Royal Navy of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, responsible for several important victories over the French and Spanish navies during a time of crisis for the country. He was widely lauded for his success, and praised for his skill and daring. After his death during the Battle of Trafalgar, he became revered as a British hero, and his fame reached new heights. Large numbers of monuments and memorials have been created in his honour, and he has continued to influence British culture and society.
Thomas Kirk was an Irish sculptor.
George Webster was a 19th-century British Marine Art painter. He toured extensively and painted seascapes of the places he visited. His work was exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists and the Royal Academy.
The Piazza at Havana is a landscape painting by the French-born British artist Dominic Serres. It depicts the scene during the British occupation of Havana in Cuba following Britain's capture of the city from Spain during the Seven Years' War. British troops in redcoats are shown parading in the Plaza Vieja while British sailors are in the foreground. Serres painted a series of works focusing on the taking of Havana for the Keppel family, three of whom led the British campaign. The title uses the Italian loan word piazza, common in English during the era, rather than the Spanish plaza.
The Battle of Camperdown is a 1799 history painting by the Anglo-American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the conclusion to the naval Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797 fought in the North Sea between the British Royal Navy and the French-Allied Dutch during the French Revolutionary Wars. A decisive victory for the British fleet, Copley's picture shows the British Admiral Adam Duncan accepting the surrender of the Dutch commander Jan Willem de Winter. Its fuller title is The Surrender of the Dutch Admiral de Winter to Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown.
The Battle of Quiberon Bay is a 1779 history painting by the French-born British artist Dominic Serres. It depicts the naval Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War. The decisive victory of Admiral Hawke's Royal Navy fleet thwarted a French invasion of Britain as part of the Annus Mirabilis.
The Battle of Vittoria is an 1822 history painting by the British artist George Jones. It depicts the Battle of Vittoria fought in Spain on 21 June 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for Allied forces led by the Duke of Wellington, effectively ending the rule of Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte over Spain. Wellington is shown mounted on a white charger and is directing the final assault towards Vittoria. It is set in the early evening with French troops in disarray while British units including the Hussars, Guards and Rifles are shown in command of the field.
Portrait of Sir Edward Pellew is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the British naval officer Sir Edward Pellew, produced around 1797.
Nelson and the Bear is an 1809 painting by the British artist Richard Westall. It depicts an incident in 1773 involving Horatio Nelson, then a fifteen-year-old Midshipman accompanying a polar expedition to try and find the Northwest Passage. Nelson and a friend were at one point attacked by a polar bear. Nelson's musket misfired and he reversed it to try and beat the bear off with the butt end. His life was likely saved when the ice split in two separating him from the animal. In the background is the bomb vessel HMS Carcass on which Nelson was a crewmember. One of the ship's guns is seen firing in an attempt to scare off the bear. It omits the presence of Nelson's comrade, showing him confidently standing up to the bear alone.
The Life of Nelson is an 1809 two-volume biography written by James Stanier Clarke and John McArthur. Published in London by Cadell and Davies, it charts the life of the British Admiral Horatio Nelson from birth to his death during his greatest victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Nelson had become a national hero Trafalgar, ending the threat of an invasion by France, been given a state burial at St. Paul's Cathedral.
