ARTWORKS

Horatio Nelson

Lemuel Francis Abbott (1760–1803)

National Portrait Gallery, London

Horatio Nelson

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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This is one of the many portraits Abbott painted of Nelson and it is perhaps the most widely recognised of the whole Nelson iconography. It depicts him in rear-admiral's uniform wearing the Star and Ribbon of the Bath and the Naval Gold Medal, awarded for his victory at the Battle of St Vincent (1797). The original portrait was painted for Captain Locker of the Greenwich Hospital. This version, commissioned for Lady Nelson, was also taken from life. Although Nelson only sat to him twice, Abbott subsequently copied the picture over forty times. The copies gradually declined in quality as the artist became mentally ill but this was no bar to their popularity. Many were purchased by Nelson's naval colleagues, his family and friends.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

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Title

Horatio Nelson

Date

1797

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 74.9 x W 62.2 cm

Accession number

394

Acquisition method

Purchased, 1874

Work type

Painting

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National Portrait Gallery, London

St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England

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Artist or maker

Lemuel Francis Abbott

1760–1803

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