Tony,
Thanks for adding two Davidson pictures I have not seen before. I would agree with your opinions in Nelson's First Footing, that the unseamanlike tangle of rope in the foreground would certainly not have passed muster with the average first lieutenant, let alone the captain! Again, as with the plates on the Elephant, it seems as though it may have been a way of putting in additional detail, but in doing so it seems as though the artist has inadvertantly made a blunder – or has he? At the time, the Raisonnable was getting ready to sail for the Faulklands, in light of the Spanish threat (but which was resolved) so I can well imagine that the ship was not in her usual orderly state. Actually, apart from this, there are a few things about this painting which make me question Davidson's nautical knowledge. The gunport, for example, appears to be overlarge, although one wonders again was this another ploy to enable the men overside to be seen the better. There is also something definitely wrong with the shrouds to the right. Similarly, some of the costume seems to be from an earlier period, eg, the seaman (bosun?) on the left might just have come from the navy of Charles ll. Would he actually be wearing buckled shoes?
Davidson would also have very likely reflected what was then 'common knowledge', as illustrated by the picture's title, in depicting Nelson boarding the Raisonnable at Chatham Dockyard. However, even though I am sure many still think that, I believe it has now been established that it was more likely to have been Sheerness?
Mark,
Your first picture, 'Nelson's Last Signal at Trafalgar', is of course well-known, but a few years ago I had reason to question it and did some research. This was prompted by a reproduction of the painting on a Christmas card from the Nelson Society, which was sent to me by a member, and in which the colours were in many respects different. The first thing I noticed was that the officer's trousers were a rather 'natty', and surprising, shade of buff - much as in Davidson's picture 'On Hostile ground'. Then I saw that the coat colour of the Marine officer to the right was its proper colour, red, and not blue as in the picture you posted and as I have it in a couple of books.
Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, the some of the flags being hoisted and those lying on deck, were different colours and designs. I then noted that the men in the background were cheering Nelson's signal and became curious as to the flags being hoisted. Due to the cheering the men must have understood the message, so it seemed likely that the particular hoist being made was towards the end, if not the last hoist, of the signal. I then checked with Popham's code and the flags didn't match with any of the hoists! Subsequently I then read, in I believe the Nelson Companion, that up until about 1908 the Victory had been using the wrong code book when hoisting the signal on Trafalgar Day. Quite when this began I don't know, but it would seem as though she had been flying the incorrect flags for some years, before somebody noticed they weren't from Popham's code! I don't have the book with me at the moment (perhaps somebody could check) but there is a picture of the stern of Victory painted around that period, and with the (wrong) code depicted in a circular border. I seem to remember that the last hoist for 'duty' depicts the same flags as in Davidson's painting. So, to his mind he was right, even though the flags were wrong!
I do wonder, however, how the colours in the painting became altered. Had it not been for that card, I may not have noticed anything wrong!
_________________ Kester.
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