Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"

Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"

Edward Francis Burney

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Burney's study relates to a finished watercolor engraved by William Angus for "The Stationer's Almanack" in 1802. The central panel depicts the naval Battle of Copenhagen and is framed by lightly drawn portraits. At right, Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson is supported by an allegory of the Nile, refering to his triumph over the French at the Battle of the Nile in 1797. At left, an allegory of Hispania near John Jervis, Earl St. Vincent refers to the defeat of the Spanish at Cape St. Vincent in the same year. The primary focus is the British victory over a Danish-Norwegian fleet off Copenhagen on April 2, 1801 by Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. On this occasion, Nelson famously held a telescope to his blind eye so that he could not see, and thus ignore, a signal to withdraw. He stands here on the poop deck of the "Elephant" at right, holding a document as a lieutenant hails an officer in a boat below. This refers to Nelson's generous offer of truce to "the brothers of the Englishmen, the Danes," in a message sent ashore to the Crown Prince of Denmark, to allow for the rescue of Danish wounded.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"Study for the "Attack on Copenhagen"

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.