J.M.W. Turner — The Sunshine Boy

The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory, 1806, reworked 1808
oil on canvas
Turmoil was Turner's natural element. In this scene of the decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, he offers a chaotic clash of masts, sailcloth and rigging. At the base of the mast just left of center, the British Admiral Horatio Nelson, surrounded by his grieving men, is dying. But the French tricolor being laid across the deck at bottom left announces the victory that Nelson would not live to see.

• Turner Show at the National Gallery : Review