The Death of Captain James Cook (Zoffany) The Death of Captain James Cook (Zoffany) The Death of Captain James Cook, 14 February 1779 is a painting by Johann Zoffany. The painting records the loss of the British explorer Captain James Cook. The painting was completed in 1794 some years after the death of Cook in 1779. Other paintings of the death of Cook were painted earlier. The Mahiole (Feathered Helmet) that was included in the painting of Cook's death by Zoffany is said to be the helmet given to Cook when he first landed in Hawaii. The painting is unfinished. Zoffany is thought to have based the
James Cook Ayer James Cook Ayer James Cook Ayer (5 May 1818 in Groton, Connecticut – 3 July 1878 in Winchendon, Massachusetts) was the wealthiest patent medicine businessman of his day. At the age of 13, he moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, and resided there with his uncle. Ayer was also brother of wealthy industrialist Frederick Ayer. His education was obtained at the public schools, where at one time he was a classmate of Gen. Butler, and subsequently at the Westford Academy, after which he was apprenticed to James C. Robbins, a druggist in Lowell. While there he studied medicine, and later he graduated