''The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar'' (also called ''The Siege of Gibraltar'', ''The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar'' or ''The Repulse of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar''Nicholson, Benedict. "The Raft of the Medusa from the Point of View of the Subject-Matter". ''Burlington Magazine'', XCVI, August 1954. 241—8) is the title of a 1791 oil-on-canvas painting by

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artist

John Singleton Copley John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) was an Anglo-American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was probably born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish. Afte ...

. It depicts the defeat of the floating batteries at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

during the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

. The

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

, General George Augustus Eliott, is on horseback pointing to the rescue of the defeated

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

sailors by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Background

The painting is based on an attack that took place in

on September 13, 1782.Bond, pages. 28–29 The

was an unsuccessful attempt by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to capture Gibraltar from the

during the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. In September 1782 the Spanish formulated a secret weapon known as the

Floating Batteries A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

. Designed to fire on Gibraltar at close quarters with deadly accuracy, floating batteries were built of -wide timbers packed with layers of wet sand, and were considered fire-proof and unsinkable. The British used

heated shot Heated shot or hot shot is round shot that is heated before firing from muzzle-loading cannons, for the purpose of setting fire to enemy warships, buildings, or equipment. The use of heated shot dates back centuries; it was a powerful weapon agains ...

to counterattack these batteries. These "hot potatoes," as they were nicknamed, were pre-heated to furnace temperatures before being fired at the advancing ships. Many were doused but a rogue heated shot could lie smouldering in the bowels of an enemy ship burning a cavity into the wood. Left long enough, these would eventually cause an inferno.

Painting

American-born John Singleton Copley was commissioned by the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

in 1783 to depict the victory of the Great Siege which had been won a few months earlier. At over 42.5 square metres (458 square feet), his picture is one of Britain's largest oil paintings. It depicts the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

General George Augustus Eliott, riding to the edge of the battlements to direct the rescue of the defeated

sailors by the

. General Eliott, created Lord Heathfield in 1787, was also portrayed by Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

( link), currently in the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

and Copley himself
link
, currently in the National Portrait Gallery; both pictures were painted in 1787. Two of Copley's preparatory sketches for the painting are in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Several years after Copley began work on his canvas, fellow American painter John Trumbull began work on a painting of a different scene of the Great Siege, '' The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar''. Trumbull finished his canvas in 1789 and displayed it in 1790, when Copley was able to view it and take some compositional inspirations, specifically in the lower left corner of his work. The painting was originally hung in the Common Council Chamber at Guildhall before being transferred to the original

Guildhall Art Gallery The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guild ...

in 1886. It was later taken down and taken out of London to be stored in safety during

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

in April 1941, three weeks before the Gallery was destroyed. No wall large enough to display it could be found until the Gallery was finally rebuilt. The painting was then loaned to the

's residence in Gibraltar, but since 1993 loaned for exhibition/gallery display at the Gibraltar Museum. It is now on display at the Guildhall Art gallery in London, where it occupies the entire back wall of the main exhibition space.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Defeat Of The Floating Batteries At Gibraltar, September 1782 Paintings by John Singleton Copley 1782 in Gibraltar 1789 paintings Collection of the Guildhall Art Gallery Horses in art Naval war paintings History paintings Paintings of people

Background

Painting

See also

Notes

References