'The Noble Admiral Lord Nelson, falling in the Arms of Victory...'

A simple and rapidly executed and published print in response to the news of Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar. It mixes allegory with reportage, showing Nelson, struck by the musket ball and falling into the arms of the winged figure of ‘Victory’, on the deck of his flagship of the same name. She is in the act of placing on his head a laurel wreath that unmistakably assumes the form of a halo. Meanwhile, Hardy points to the battle raging to the left, informing Nelson of the defeat of the French and Spanish fleets, while to the right a midshipman clasps his hands in grief and prayer. This is one of numerous similar prints that were produced in the immediate aftermath of Nelson’s death and funeral, as part of a nationwide expression of loss.

Object Details

ID: PAF4352
Collection: Fine art
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Patriarcha, P.
Events: Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
Date made: Published 11 March 1806
People: Nelson, Horatio; Hardy, Thomas Masterman
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Caird Fund.
Measurements: Mount: 252 mm x 351 mm
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