The original oil painting made 95000 at Bonham's auction in their famous London auction rooms. Since then series of fabulous prints has been on sale and Artists Harbour is proud to say that we have been one of the most successful sellers of the large canvas print1676mm x 1016mm66inches by 40inches which effectively from a distance of 1 metre gives you a 100000 picture for around 1000. We accompany the large print with three historic pictures that illuminate the wonderful Dews canvas. THE KEY MOMENTS OF THE BATTLEThe focus of Steven Dews' remarkable painting is the moment at which Victory centre flanked by the Temeraire far right broke through the enemy lines sustaining and exchanging a severe pounding as she passed Villeneuve's French flagship Bucentaure left shown sailing out of the picture. This was just before a musket shot from Redoutable stern just visible to Victory's right that hit Nelson and from which he would die four hours later at the moment of his greatest victory. Trafalgar was the greatest battle of the age of fighting sail and marked a key turning point in Napoleon's campaign to secure European domination. Napoleon's armies may have been allconquering but the British had mastery of the seas. On October 21st 1805 the combined fleet of 33 French and Spanish ships under the command of the French Admiral Villeneuve was confronted by a fleet of 27 ships of the Royal Navy led by Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson on board the Victory off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast. Rather than fight broadsidetobroadside in two long lines Nelson's unusual plan was to attack the French and Spanish line in two columns from the west and hope to break straight through the centre effectively dividing the French fleet and bringing the British into close action where their experience and superior gunnery would prevail. The edition of 1805 prints marks 1805 the year of the Battle of Trafalgar a bit more than two centuries ago. Each print comes with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the artist and 3 FREE prints. These free prints are printed to a high standard with longlife pigment inks on acidfree art papers and come are with our compliments to thank you for purchasing the largest size of the Dews' Battle of Trafalgar print. All three of these extra prints are reproduced by us and give you a contemporaneous picture of Nelson a picture of the ship and a plan of the fleet dispositions for the battle which helps explain the Dews picture see below which should repay being properly framed by your local framer. If you decide to hang them near the Dews print they should probably be framed in a colour and style to complement the frame on the Dews we recommend the Dews is framed in gold the darker and redder the better and it should be hung with plenty of light on it though direct sunlight should be avoided. Nelson's Favourite Portrait of Himself that's what the history books record of this portrait by Simon de Koster completed sometime between 1798 and 1801. De Koster sketched Nelson when they were both guests at a dinner party and Nelson apparently prized it above all other likenesses showing he was not a vain man. During the Trafalgar 200 celebrations this year it was uncanny to hold this picture up in our gallery beside a young woman who was something like the greatgreatgreatgreat niece of Nelson and the likeness was uncanny. We recommend framing this in a circular mount. HMS Victory 1805 by A. B. Cull 18801931 a charming picture of the ship as she was in the year of Trafalgar in wash ink and chalk. Trafalgar Battle Plan a popular print from about 1812 which we have reproduced. This reveals the state of the battle a few minutes before the scene in your Steven Dews picture. HMS Victory followed by the fighting HMS Temeraire is at the head of the lefthand column of British ships which had been sailing for some considerable time into the teeth of the French and Spanish broadsides without being able to fire back hence the holes in the sails in the Dews picture. In the French line Just to the right of where HMS Victory's column is aiming is the French flagship Bucentaure and behind it the Redoutable. By the time we reach the moment of Steven Dews' picture HMS Victory has cut in between them and is delivering a devastating broadside into the stern and down the length of Bucentaure. Minutes later a shot from high up on Redoubtable behind HMS Victory in the Dews picture strikes down Lord Nelson with a fatal wound. HMS Teme

• published: 06 Apr 2015
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