THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE
Joseph Mallard William Turner 1775-1851
National Gallery, London
COMMENT by De Mer
This great painting in the National Gallery of London was painted in 1838. Not only brilliantly executed with composition, colour and light, it is the also the strong symbolism in this work that consolidates this paintings claim to a masterpiece. The Temeraire survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 is being towed to her finale at the breaker yards on the Thames River...........The old sailing ship LIT in ALL HER GHOSTLY GLORY but with no sails amast (seemingly folorn and destined to her fate) is being taken to her resting place by the NEW young lion on the seas the steamship. Thus Turner captures not only the sad and glorious, but the ringing out of the old and bringing in of the new. Symbolically adding his own comment in the sinister dark sleekness and phallic form of the new kid on the block. The sunsets on a glorious career.............Turner actually witnessed this event while riding on the Thames one afternoon in 1838 and instantly saw the paradox and also why he had been at that time and place to witness it...his amazing effort hands down this defining moment to posterity.
