How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
A three-quarter-length portrait of Captain Cook wearing captain's full-dress uniform, 1774–1787, consisting of a navy blue jacket, white waistcoat with gold braid and gold buttons and white breeches. He wears a grey wig or his own hair powdered. He holds his own chart of the Southern Ocean on the table and his right hand points to the east coast of Australia on it. His left thumb and finger lightly hold the other edge of the chart over his knee. His hat sits on the table behind him to the left on top of a book, perhaps his journal, itself resting on the chart. In 1772 Cook sailed for the second time to the fringes of the Antarctic and the Pacific, returning in 1775. He sat for this portrait, commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks, 'for a few hours before dinner' on 25th May 1776 but it is not known whether he did so again before he left London on 24th June for his third voyage, never to return.
The artist worked with Pompeo Batoni in Rome and on his return to London in 1765 achieved success as a portrait and history painter. In 1768, he joined a group of artists who successfully petitioned George III to establish the Royal Academy.
Title
Captain James Cook (1728–1779)
Date
1775–1776
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 127 x W 101.6 cm
Accession number
BHC2628
Acquisition method
National Maritime Museum (Greenwich Hospital Collection)
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
-
David Garrick (1717–1779), as Richard III Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall -
Frederick Cornwallis (1713–1783), Archbishop of Canterbury (1768–1783) English Heritage, Audley End House -
Sir William Fordyce (1724–1792) Red House Museum and Gardens -
Sir John Russell (d.1802), 10th Bt Chequers Court -
Gustavus Brander (1720–1787) Natural History Museum -
Admiral Keppel (1725–1786) Chequers Court -
George William (1722–1809), 6th Earl of Coventry Worcester Guildhall - 81 more
