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The Slave Ship, originally titled Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhon coming on, is a painting by the British artist J. M. W. Turner, first exhibited at The Royal Academy of Arts in 1840.

Measuring 35+3⁄4 in × 48+1⁄4 in (91 cm × 123 cm) in oil on canvas, it is now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In this classic example of a Romantic maritime painting, Turner depicts a ship visible in the background, sailing through a tumultuous sea of churning water and leaving scattered human forms floating in its wake. Turner was possibly moved to paint The Slave Ship after reading about the slave ship Zong in The History and Abolition of the Slave Trade by Thomas Clarkson, the second edition of which was published in 1839. The initial exhibition of the painting in 1840 coincided with international abolitionist campaigns. As the piece changed hands in subsequent years, it was subject to a wide array of conflicting interpretations. While the work is generally admired for its spectacular atmospheric effects, there are conflicting opinions about the relationship between its style and its subject matter.

Historical background

In 1781, the captain of a slave ship inbound to Jamaica, the Zong, had ordered 132 slaves to be thrown overboard when drinking water was running low so that insurance payments could be collected; slaves who died of natural causes were not covered by insurance. This incident went to court, and the trial that ensued gained wide public attention, building support for the abolition of slavery. Although the trial was deemed to be inconclusive, it was a pivotal catalyst in the movement towards British abolition and a moment that later inspired Turner to portray the incident in The Slave Ship.

While the first organized British abolition movement was started in 1727, the slave trade in the British Empire was not officially abolished until 1807 with slavery itself abolished in 1833. Universal abolition was then at the center of politics following Britain's reform. Motives for the movement were centrally humanitarian, but economic incentives also incited a desire to terminate this commercial act in competing countries.

J. M. W. Turner

J. M. W. Turner was a well-known 19th-century landscape painter born in London in 1775, who was highly regarded for his stylistic innovation. His training in the arts was extensive. He started studying at the Royal Academy at the age of fourteen, and gained additional experience in topographical drawings and watercolour working under Dr. Thomas Monro, a physician and alienist, developing his interest in landscapes and distinctive application of colours.

Due to his liberal beliefs and interest in current events, Turner was directly exposed to the campaigns and publications of the anti-slavery societies of his time, the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions (1823–1838) and the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1839), which inevitably shaped his abolitionist beliefs. As an abolitionist, Turner was passionate about contributing to the slavery resistance campaigns in international regions, such as in the United States. The first documented sign of Turner's artistic contribution to the anti-slavery movement occurred in 1828 when he dedicated an engraving of his painting The Deluge to a well known abolitionist, John Joshua Proby. Twelve years later, after possibly being informed about the Zong incident from reading The History and Abolition of the Slave Trade by Thomas Clarkson, as well as the Amistad rebellion and subsequent court case in the United States which was international news, Turner was inspired to depict these horrific events in his piece The Slave Ship.

Exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts

In 1840, two important international anti-slavery conventions were held in London: "The General Anti-Slavery Society" and "Society of the Extinction of the Slave Trade and the Civilization of Africa." Turner's exhibition of The Slave Ship at the Royal Academy of Arts coincided with these conventions. This public display of a horrific event reminding viewers of Britain's past was intended to evoke an emotional response to the inhumane slave trade still occurring at that time in other parts of the world. Given the context of its initial exhibition, the painting would likely have been interpreted as a political call to action.

节选，摘自英文维基百科「The Slave Ship」，按 CC BY-SA 4.0 使用。