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Description

Classic Aquatint of One of the Most Decisive Naval Battle of All Time.

Dramatic aquatint by the maritime artist Robert Dodd, based on a painting by the same, showing the course of the Battle of the Nile as of 10 o'clock at night on August 1, 1798.

In the foreground is the stern of HMS Culloden, which had run aground on a shoal and was trying to reset her anchor. The closest vessel on the left side of the image is HMS Bellerophon, which had suffered grievously in its one-on-one combat with the French flagship Orient. Indeed, by the time depicted in Dodd's image, virtually all of her senior officer corps had been killed or incapacitated, from captain to fifth lieutenant, to the point that the senior officer on deck was a 13-year-old midshipman. Because of the growing fire aboard l'Orient, the senior midshipman took steps to move Bellerophon away from danger, which resulted in the loss of her foremast. The view shows Bellerephon slowly drifting away from the line of battle while l'Orient blazes in the background illuminating the scene. Half an hour later, the fire reached l'Orient's ammunition, and she exploded spectacularly, killing the French admiral Brueys and what was left of her more than 1,000-man original compliment.

The British fleet under Horatio Nelson scored a devastating victory against the French at the Battle of the Nile, which saw as many as 8,000 French sailors killed or captured, French naval power in the Mediterranean decimated, and Napoleon stranded in Egypt.

Dodd published a set of four aquatints of various stages of the Battle of the Nile.

Condition Description
Aquatint on 19th-century wove paper. Minor toning and spotting. Edges worn, reinforced with tape. Some tears into image on left side, most repaired with tape. Small amount of loss in lower left and lower right corners, well away from image and text.