Lord Howe's Action, or the Glorious First of June
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Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June
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| Lord Howe's Action, or the Glorious First of June | |
|---|---|
Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg | |
| Year | 1795 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 266.5 cm × 373.5 cm (104.9 in × 147.0 in) |
| Location | Queen's House (NMM), London |
Lord Howe's Action, or the Glorious First of June is a 1795 painting by
Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg of the victory of British naval forces under Lord Howe over a French force led by Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse on the Glorious First of June 1794. After time in the Royal Collection of George IV, it is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum and on display in the ground floor of its Queen's House
.
Historical background
The painting was commissioned by V. and R. Green and Christian von Mechel,
publishers, for £500. They had in 1793 commissioned the equally large The Siege of Valenciennes from him, and this painting of the naval battle was intended to accompany it. Both paintings were intended for engraving (prints of them were produced by James Fittler, with 'Glorious First' coming out in January 1799[1] and 'Valenciennes' in 1801) and public exhibition (from 2 March 1795 at the Historic Gallery, Pall Mall, thus garnering interest for the images' publication, and on tour after their sale to Mr T. Vernon of Liverpool in 1799). James Gillray
, as with Louthebourg's 'Valenciennes', gave Louthebourg help with painting the figures (Gillray had accompanied the army carrying out the siege).
Shown at Edinburgh in 1800, Vernon later sold them separately, with the 'Valenciennes' eventually finishing up in
Greenwich Hospital
in 1829 as one of his last gifts to them.
Description
In the centre are the two flagships are depicted fighting each other;
Master of the Fleet
, and a hero of the battle) - Bowen commented that Queen Charlotte would have captured Montagne if such a broadside engagement as shown had occurred in reality and that the painting was thus a slur on the Queen Charlotte's honour.
In the extreme right is the port bow of an English ship (probably
Vengeur du Peuple, sinking after a long and fatal duel with the Brunswick, and beyond Vengeur are other ships' topsails, just showing above the smoke of battle. The French ships are shown flying the early Revolutionary naval ensign
(with the French tricolour added to the upper quadrant of the Bourbon white naval ensign), the only major action the French fleet fought under it. It had officially been replaced by the new (and current) tricolour in May 1794, but the new pattern had not arrived when Villaret-Joyeuse's ships sailed.