The Fighting Temeraire 1839

By Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851)

This painting shows the last voyage of a once-great but now old and decaying warship, the Temeraire. The Temeraire is towed by a brown tug boat over the calm water of the River Thames in London. A barge sails close by. A pale moon rises to the left of the Temeraire’s tall masts. To the right, the sun is about to sink beneath a fiery sky. The tug and the barge are reflected in the water, but the Temeraire’s reflection is very faint. It’s as if the old ship is already a ghost.

Here we see the end of a celebrated ship that had fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, which is probably the most famous sea battle ever fought by the British Navy. The battle lasted four and a half hours and was a victory for the British. The Temeraire’s role in this battle was described as ‘most noble and distinguished’.

This painting was made at a time when steam ships were beginning to take over from traditional sailing vessels, and the two boats shown here are contrasted with each other. Next to the silver elegance of the Temeraire, the modern tug, pouring dirty smoke and flames from its black funnel, seems crude and ugly.

How would you describe the mood of this painting? What do you think it would have been like to be on the Temeraire during the Battle of Trafalgar?

_{Oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London}

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