Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June
Encyclopedia
Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June is a 1795 painting by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg of the victory of British naval forces under Lord Howe
over a French force led by Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
on the Glorious First of June
1794. After time in the Royal Collection
of George IV, it is currently in the collection of the National Maritime Museum
and on display in the ground floor of its Queen's House
, in place of Turner's The Battle of Trafalgar
(whilst the latter is on long-term foreign loan).
, with 'Glorious First' coming out in January 1799 and 'Valenciennes' in 1801) and public exhibition (from 2 March 1795 at the Historic Gallery, Pall Mall
, thus garnering interest for the images' publication, and on tour after their sale to Mr T. Vernon of Liverpool
in 1799). James Gillray
, as with Louthebourg's 'Valenciennes', gave Louthebourg help with painting the figures (Gillray had accompanied the army carrying out the siege).
Shown at Edinburgh in 1800, Vernon later sold them separately, with the 'Valenciennes' eventually finishing up in Lord Hesketh's collection at Easton Neston
. The 'Glorious First' was purchased early in the 19th century for the Royal Collection
by the Prince of Wales, who displayed it at St James's Palace and - after his accession to the throne in 1820 - commissioned JMW Turner's The Battle of Trafalgar
as a pendant for it. However, Turner's piece was criticised for perceived factual innaccuracies, and so George gave both the 'Trafalgar' and 'Glorious First' to the Naval Gallery at Greenwich Hospital in 1829 as one of his last gifts to them.
In the centre are the two flagships are depicted fighting each other, HMS Queen Charlotte
is to the left and Montagne
to the right, with bodies falling from the gunports of the latter. The pair did engage during the battle, but never in the broadside position shown in the painting, and Queen Charlotte only lost her fore-topmast whilst already well astern of the Montagne, rather than during a broadside engagement shown here. This wrongly makes it appear that Queen Charlotte dropped behind Montagne due to the loss of this mast and thus failed to capture her, and led to criticism of the painting by Lord Howe and by James Bowen (Howe's Master of the Fleet
, and a hero of the battle) - Bowen commented that Queen Charlotte would have captured Montagne if such a broadside engagement as shown had occurred in reality and that the painting was thus a slur on the Queen Charlottes honour.
In the extreme right is the port bow of an English ship (probably ), behind which is another French ship (flying, like the Montagne, the signal flag S from one of her masts), whilst in the left foreground is shown the port side of the 74 gun Vengeur du Peuple, sinking after a long and fatal duel with the Brunswick, and beyond Vengeur are other ships' topsails, just showing above the smoke of battle.
The French ships are shown flying the early Revolutionary naval ensign (with the French tricolour added to the upper quadrant of the Bourbon white naval ensign), the only major action the French fleet fought under it. It had officially been replaced by the new (and current) tricolour in May 1794, but the new pattern had not arrived when Villaret-Joyeuse's ships sailed.
treatment of the battle than a literally documentary one, though such departures did not attract such widespread criticism as Turner's did in Trafalgar. Attempts are being made by four English boats to rescue the Vengeurs crew, who are shown clinging to their ship's spars and to other wreckage blasted off other ships right across the foreground. Both sides are shown heroically fighting the sea itself as well as each other, intensifying both and giving the event drama as well as human scale, as well as showing the British sailor as compassionate to his defeated enemy. Compared to Turner's later pendant, the painting is an unequivocally heroic image and its overall style is conventionally patriotic.
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
over a French force led by Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was a French admiral.-Early career:Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was born in Auch, in the heart of Gascony. The Villaret de Joyeuse family figured among the minor nobility from Languedoc...
on the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
1794. After time in the Royal Collection
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...
of George IV, it is currently in the collection of the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
and on display in the ground floor of its Queen's House
Queen's House
The Queen's House, Greenwich, is a former royal residence built between 1614-1617 in Greenwich, then a few miles downriver from London, and now a district of the city. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was a crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James I of England...
, in place of Turner's The Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (painting)
The Battle of Trafalgar is an oil-on-canvas painting, created by J.M.W. Turner in 1824. The painting was ordered by King George IV for the Painted Hall at Greenwich, as a pendant for Louthebourg's Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June. It shows the Royal Navy ship HMS Victory at the...
(whilst the latter is on long-term foreign loan).
History
The painting was commissioned by V. and R. Green and Christian von Mechel, engravers and publishers, for £500. They had in 1793 commissioned the equally large "The Siege of Valenciennes" from him, and this painting of the naval battle was intended to accompany it. Both paintings were intended for engraving (prints of them were produced by James FittlerJames Fittler
James Fittler , was an English engraver.Fittler was born in London in 1758, and became a student at the Royal Academy in 1778. Besides book illustrations, he distinguished himself by numerous works after English and foreign masters, chiefly portraits. He engraved also landscapes, marine subjects,...
, with 'Glorious First' coming out in January 1799 and 'Valenciennes' in 1801) and public exhibition (from 2 March 1795 at the Historic Gallery, Pall Mall
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
, thus garnering interest for the images' publication, and on tour after their sale to Mr T. Vernon of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in 1799). James Gillray
James Gillray
James Gillray , was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810.- Early life :He was born in Chelsea...
, as with Louthebourg's 'Valenciennes', gave Louthebourg help with painting the figures (Gillray had accompanied the army carrying out the siege).
Shown at Edinburgh in 1800, Vernon later sold them separately, with the 'Valenciennes' eventually finishing up in Lord Hesketh's collection at Easton Neston
Easton Neston
Easton Neston is a country house near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, and is part of the Easton Neston Parish. It was designed in the Baroque style by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor...
. The 'Glorious First' was purchased early in the 19th century for the Royal Collection
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...
by the Prince of Wales, who displayed it at St James's Palace and - after his accession to the throne in 1820 - commissioned JMW Turner's The Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (painting)
The Battle of Trafalgar is an oil-on-canvas painting, created by J.M.W. Turner in 1824. The painting was ordered by King George IV for the Painted Hall at Greenwich, as a pendant for Louthebourg's Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June. It shows the Royal Navy ship HMS Victory at the...
as a pendant for it. However, Turner's piece was criticised for perceived factual innaccuracies, and so George gave both the 'Trafalgar' and 'Glorious First' to the Naval Gallery at Greenwich Hospital in 1829 as one of his last gifts to them.
Description
HMS Queen Charlotte (1790)
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1790 at Chatham. She was built to the draught of designed by Sir Edward Hunt, though with a modified armament....
is to the left and Montagne
French ship Océan (1790)
Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790...
to the right, with bodies falling from the gunports of the latter. The pair did engage during the battle, but never in the broadside position shown in the painting, and Queen Charlotte only lost her fore-topmast whilst already well astern of the Montagne, rather than during a broadside engagement shown here. This wrongly makes it appear that Queen Charlotte dropped behind Montagne due to the loss of this mast and thus failed to capture her, and led to criticism of the painting by Lord Howe and by James Bowen (Howe's Master of the Fleet
Master of the Fleet
In the Royal Navy, the rank of Master of the Fleet denoted the sailing master of a fleet flagship, or the senior sailing master in a fleet. Examples include John Bowen , Ian Hogg, and John H. D. Cunningham.By 1814, the title granted the master extra pay...
, and a hero of the battle) - Bowen commented that Queen Charlotte would have captured Montagne if such a broadside engagement as shown had occurred in reality and that the painting was thus a slur on the Queen Charlottes honour.
In the extreme right is the port bow of an English ship (probably ), behind which is another French ship (flying, like the Montagne, the signal flag S from one of her masts), whilst in the left foreground is shown the port side of the 74 gun Vengeur du Peuple, sinking after a long and fatal duel with the Brunswick, and beyond Vengeur are other ships' topsails, just showing above the smoke of battle.
The French ships are shown flying the early Revolutionary naval ensign (with the French tricolour added to the upper quadrant of the Bourbon white naval ensign), the only major action the French fleet fought under it. It had officially been replaced by the new (and current) tricolour in May 1794, but the new pattern had not arrived when Villaret-Joyeuse's ships sailed.
Analysis
Though the accuracy as regards the French ensign and Loutherbourg's detailed preparatory sketches show the artist's great care over the detail, the matter of the central duel and its departure from literal historical truth shows how the painting is more a RomanticRomanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
treatment of the battle than a literally documentary one, though such departures did not attract such widespread criticism as Turner's did in Trafalgar. Attempts are being made by four English boats to rescue the Vengeurs crew, who are shown clinging to their ship's spars and to other wreckage blasted off other ships right across the foreground. Both sides are shown heroically fighting the sea itself as well as each other, intensifying both and giving the event drama as well as human scale, as well as showing the British sailor as compassionate to his defeated enemy. Compared to Turner's later pendant, the painting is an unequivocally heroic image and its overall style is conventionally patriotic.