Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson – mezzotint portrait by C. Turner (after J. Hoppner), 1806

Description

Admiral Lord Nelson – an iconic mezzotint portrait of Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson by Charles Turner, engraved after oil painting by John Hoppner and published by Colnaghi & Co in London on 9 January 1806, the day of Nelson’s funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The original portrait have been painted in summer of 1801 during Nelson’s time in England. Nelson stands on a rocky seashore in full dress uniform of a Rear-Admiral with orders and decorations; behind him is a scene of a naval bombardment of Copenhagen.

Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson (1758 – 1805) was a British naval commander, most famous for his victories against French & Spanish fleets during the Napoleonic Wars. Young Horatio have joint the Royal Navy aged just 12, became a captain at 20 and served in West Indies, Baltic and Canada. Nelson lost the sight in his right eye at the Battle at Calvi and later lost his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797. Same year, Nelson distinguished himself in capturing two Spanish ships in Battle of Cape St Vincent, thought it involved him disobeying orders. In 1798 Nelson has successfully hunted down and destroyed Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Disregarding his orders again at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 by claiming he couldn’t see a signal to withdraw, Nelson inflicted heavy damage on Danish fleet and forced Crown Prince Frederick into a truce and negotiations. As a reward for this victory, Nelson became Commander-in-chief in the Baltic Sea and was created Viscount Nelson of the Nile. While serving in Naples, he fell in love with Emma, Lady Hamilton. Although they remained in their respective marriages, Nelson and Emma became soulmates and had a child, Horatia, in 1801. Same year Nelson was promoted to Vice-Admiral. Under the Nelson’s inspirational and often unconventional leadership the Royal Navy proved its supremacy over the French. Undoubtedly his most famous engagement was the Battle at Cape Trafalgar which has seen a spectacular victory of British fleet over superior combined French and Spanish force. This victory have saved Britain from invasion by Napoleon. Leading the attack on HMS Victory Nelson sent his famous signal to his fleet “England expects that every man will do his duty”. During Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Nelson was shot by a French marksman and died three hours later. His body was preserved in a cask of brandy tied to Victory’s main mast, and transported back to England where he was given a state funeral. Admiral Nelson is regarded as British national hero, with numerous monuments commemorating his legendary victories, including the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square, London.

Charles Turner (1774 – 1857) was an English mezzotint engraver and draughtsman. He moved to London at the age of 15 and enrolled in The Royal Academy. Diversely gifted, Turner also produced stipple engravings, aquatints and etchings. He has engraved a wide variety of subjects, often of paintings and images of famous people, and was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1828.

John Hoppner (1758 – 1810) was an English portrait painter. He was born in London to German parents and, with patronage of King George and amid rumours of being his illegitimate son, entered the Royal Academy in 1775 soon receiving a gold medal for his historical painting of King Lear. Hoppner was made a portrait painter to the Prince of Wales in 1789. He had many famous persons of the time sitting for his portraits including Lord Nelson, Sir Walter Scott and Duke of Wellington.

This poster is a high quality “giclee” reproduction of a restored antique original, custom-printed on Standard Single-weight Matt Coated art paper 140gsm or  Heavyweight Matt Coated art paper 230gsm (more of a thin card density), or superb Epson Matt Canvas 320gsm, according to your choice. We use the latest UltraChromeHDX pigment inks which guarantee 60 years of colour  permanence (up to 200 years fade-proof for colour prints).  This poster is suitable for mounting and framing, as well as direct display on a wall.

IMPORTANT: If you are going to frame this print we recommend art paper 230gsm or canvas 320gsm. The 140gsm art paper option makes sense if you wish to DIY-frame or to tack the poster to a wall without framing, due to it being lighter and more flexible. All three options are giclee prints of the same high quality.

POSTER PRINT QUALITY

Please note that our reproduction posters are made to order and every print is checked before posting. The images we use in most cases are scans of antique originals, professionally restored in order to remove the most evident stains, folds, tears and other damage. We strive to balance the restoration and saving the overall integrity and antique appearance of the original. Our restored images are unique and these prints can be purchased only from www.VictorianMaps.com.

There will be no watermark on your image but there might be a white border depending on aspect ratio of the original. Please note that when a large antique original is reduced to a smaller size print some text may not be readable. Please check our measurements: every poster has its own aspect ratio same as original and printed exactly as pictured.