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Notes
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This is a small replica of the painting that Huggins executed for King William IV in 1837. It shows the position of the fleets at 4.30 on the evening of 21 October in a rising gale. Huggins had already done a pair of large paintings of Trafalgar for the King, shown at Exeter Hall in 1834. The prime version of this one, which is chronologically the middle of the three subjects, seems to have been a separate commission. It has now emerged that it is an oil copy, with very slight variations, of a watercolour by Lieutenant Paul Harris Nicolas (1790–1860), who served as a 2nd lieutenant on the 74-gun 'Belleisle' at Trafalgar and was also a younger brother of (Sir) Nicholas Harris Nicolas, later editor of Nelson's dispatches. Inscriptions along the lower edge of the watercolour's frame identify the ships shown: to the left in stern view in the distance the French 'Redoutable', 74, lashed alongside the British 'Temeraire', 98, with the 'Fougeux', 74, on the latter's right but hidden by the dismasted hulk of the 'Santa Ana', 112, taken by the 'Royal Sovereign', Collingwood's 100-gun flagship.
Nicolas is known to have done at least one other watercolour of the battle, showing the situation of the 'Belleisle' at 1pm but the dates of execution are not known. He became full lieutenant in July 1808, served at Basque Roads in 1810 and went on to half-pay in September 1814. He lived to receive the Naval General Sevice medal and also wrote a history of the Royal Marines.
Title
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: Position of the Fleets at 4.30pm
Date
after 1837
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 61 x W 84 cm
Accession number
BHC0542
Work type
Painting