HE Téméraire was Nelson's flag ship when he won the Tbattle of Trafalgar. Now as a mere phantom of her former self, she is being towed out by a "sputtering little steam-tug that is dragging her off to annihilation." Turner happened to be on the Thames when this relic of other days was being towed out to sea and at the suggestion of a friend, painted the scene. It was first exhibited at the Academy in 1839 and hangs today in the National Gallery in London. |