Clarkson Frederick Stanfield was a prominent English painter who was best known for his large-scale paintings of dramatic marine subjects and landscapes. He was the father of the painter George Clarkson Stanfield and the composer Francis Stanfield.
David Roberts was a Scottish painter. He is especially known for The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia, a prolific series of detailed lithograph prints of Egypt and the Near East that he produced from sketches he made during long tours of the region (1838–1840). These and his large oil paintings of similar subjects made him a prominent Orientalist painter. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1841.
A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record. War artists explore the visual and sensory dimensions of war, often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.
HMS Temeraire was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. Launched in 1798, she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought only one fleet action, the Battle of Trafalgar, but became so well known for that action and her subsequent depictions in art and literature that she has been remembered as The Fighting Temeraire.
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.
The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.
Thomas Jones Barker was an English historical, military, and portrait painter.
Oliver Martin Wilson Warner was a well-known British naval historian and writer.
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.
Captain George Miller Bligh (1780–1834) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. He was present aboard HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was badly wounded during the action. He was taken below and was present in the cockpit at the death of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson.
William Lionel Wyllie, also known as W. L. Wyllie, 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, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, and many other institutions around the world.
Marine art was especially popular in Britain during the Romantic Era, and taken up readily by British artists in part because of Great Britain's geographical form. This article deals with marine art as a specialized genre practised by artists who did little or nothing else, and does not cover the marine works of the leading painters of the period, such as, and above all, J. M. W. Turner. The tradition of British marine art as a specialized genre with a strong emphasis on the shipping depicted began in large part with the artists Willem Van de Velde the Elder and his son, called the Younger in the early 18th century. The Van Veldes, originally from Holland, moved to England to work for King Charles II). By the 17th century, marine art was commissioned mostly by merchant seamen and naval officers and created by marine art specialists. In part, marine art served as a visual portrayal of Britain's power on the sea and as a way of historically documenting battles and the like. As British sea captains began to recognize the ability of marine artists to bring Britain's success on the sea to the public on land, some took on an active role in supporting this type of artwork. For example, marine artist Robert Cleveley was hired by Captain William Locker to work in HMS Thames as a clerk, and Captain Locker, interested in employing artists, is believed to have played a significant role in encouraging Cleveley to work as a marine painter. Captains would act as marine artists' patrons, commissioning them to paint portraits of themselves and pictures depicting important battles. A few significant marine artists who were supported in this way by naval officers are Nicholas Pocock, Thomas Luny, and George Chambers. William Hodges, for example, who was trained to draw at William Shipley's Academy, was hired by the Admiralty to finish his pictures from Cook's 1772 voyage for publication upon reaching home in 1775. Captains also commissioned artists to paint portraits of their ships.
William John Huggins was a British marine painter who won royal patronage for his work.
Edward Goodall was a British engraver. He is now best known for his plates after J. M. W. Turner.
The brothers John Cantiloe Joy, and William Joy, were English marine artists, who lived and worked together. They belonged to the Norwich School of painters, considered to be a unique phenomenon in the history of British art and the most important school of painting of 19th century England.
The Battle of Camperdown is a 1799 history painting by the American-born painter John Singleton Copley. It depicts the conclusion to the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797, which was fought in the North Sea between fleets of the Royal Navy and the Batavian Navy during the War of the First Coalition. A decisive British victory, Copley's painting shows British Admiral Adam Duncan accepting the surrender of the Batavian Admiral Jan Willem de Winter. Its full title is The Surrender of the Dutch Admiral de Winter to Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown.
Nelson Boarding the San Josef is an 1829 history painting by the British artist George Jones. It depicts the boarding and capture of the Spanish ship-of-the-line San Josef by the British Royal Navy at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797. It emphasises the role played by Horatio Nelson, the future victor of the Battle of the Nile and Battle of Trafalgar.
Portsmouth Harbour is an 1831 landscape painting by the British artist Clarkson Stanfield. It depicts a view of Portsmouth Harbour at the major British naval base of Portsmouth in Hampshire. A frigate is seen departing harbour in full sail. Visible on the right is the Church of St Thomas; in the centre are the Saluting Battery, Semaphore Tower, and Round Tower; and to the left is Blockhouse Point on the Gosport side. Prominent inside the harbour is HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar.
Mount St Michael, Cornwall is an 1830 landscape painting by the British artist Clarkson Stanfield. Stanfield, a former sailor, specialised in marine paintings. This view of St Michael's Mount in stormy weather was a breakthrough for him. It was produced when Romanticism was at its height. It remains one of his best known works along with his The Battle of Trafalgar (1836).
Portrait of Horatio Nelson is a 1781 portrait painting by the Italian-born English artist John Francis Rigaud depicting the British sailor Horatio Nelson. Later a celebrated admiral, known for his victories at the Battle of the Nile and Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson was at this time a young captain in the Royal Navy. It is occasionally known as the Young Nelson.
