The Battle of Trafalgar (painting) installation. The painting now hangs in the National Maritime Museum, also in Greenwich, London. This work depicts a scene from the Battle of Trafalgar, a naval battle fought between the British and Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar in southwest Spain. The British had twenty-seven ships to the thirty-three of the Franco-Spanish fleet. Despite this, the British came out as decisively victorious and captured or destroyed nineteen of the Franco-Spanish ships. Admiral Nelson, of the British Navy, took an unconventional approach to this battle and split his fleet into two lines, one led by his flagship "Victory" and the other by
The Battle of Trafalgar (painting) early works was "The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory". This work was well received and provided the foundation from which Turner would develop "Trafalgar" into a scene representing an overall account of the whole battle. This earlier depiction is closer to Turner’s style in that it leans away from traditional maritime paintings and more toward the ambiguity and sublime that Turner would later be known for. In preparation for "Trafalgar" Turner created two preparatory oil sketches, with the "First Sketch for ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’" aligning its composition with the traditional maritime