Fine Canvas Art Blog

Shipwreck of the Minotaur, J. M. William Turner, ca. 1810

British / Landscape / Paintings (Reproductions) / Turner - 1 year ago - troycapc

This is a reproduction of “The Shipwreck of the Minotaur” by J. M. William Turner of about 1810.  This British warship was sailing from Gothenburg to Britain when it was wrecked on the night of December 22, 1810.  Over a hundred of her crew reached the Dutch shore and twenty others were rescued by a pilot vessel.  Yet Dutch authorities refused to send help to the vessel which was being pounded to pieces.  Between 370 and 570 souls were lost and the 130 survivors were taken to France as prisoners of war.  Turner had been working on shipwreck paintings and this one was named to take advantage of the scandal among the British public over the failure of the Dutch to rescue hundreds of people who could have been saved.  This masterpiece is in the Calouste Gulenkian Museum in Lisbon.

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