The Death of Nelson

The Death of Nelson is a painting by the American artist Benjamin West dated 1806.

In 1770, West painted The Death of General Wolfe. This was not an accurate representation of the event, but rather an idealisation, and it included people who were not present at the event. Nevertheless, it became very popular, and West painted at least five copies.

In 1801, three years after the Battle of the Nile, West met Horatio Nelson, who told him how much he admired the painting of Wolfe, and asked why he had not produced any more similar paintings. West, who was at the time the President of the Royal Academy, replied that he had found no subject of comparable notability. Nelson then expressed the desire that he would be the subject of West's next similar painting. In 1805, Nelson was killed in the Battle of Trafalgar and, within six months, West had created this painting. Again it proved to be popula…

摘自英文维基百科「The Death of Nelson (West painting)」（CC BY-SA 4.0），暂时没有中文条目。