A framed mezzotint engraving of Admiral Lord Nelson at the battle of Copenhagen by Charles Turner, after John Hoppner. From the collection of Sir John Malcolm Fraser, 1st Baronet, journalist, Royal Naval captain, and vice-chairman of the Conservative Party.

This famous print, created as part of a commemorative run to coincide with the day of Nelson’s state funeral at St Paul’s cathedral by the English mezzotint engraver and draughtsman Charles Turner (1774-1857) and taken from the 1802 painting by John Hoppner (1758-1810) shows the great Admiral overlooking the destruction of the Danish fleet at Copehnagen.

“Nelson stands on a rocky seashore, leaning on a rock, wearing the full-dress uniform of a Rear-Admiral with orders and decorations; behind is a view of the naval bombardment of Copenhagen. The low view point and storm clouds apparently gathered around the sitter’s head are devices learned from Reynolds’s depiction of heroes. [The original] portrait must have been commissioned in 1801 with sittings taken during Nelson’s time in England in the summer of that year; in 24 March 1802 Farington records in his diary that Hoppner intended to send the portrait to the Royal Academy, though in the end he failed to do so. For the remainder of his life this portraits seems to have remained with Hoppner allowing him to execute many copies.”

Royal Collection Trust.