The Apotheosis of Nelson
For a picture of such a modest size the composition is extremely complicated. The differing elements were described at the time, bringing the Nelson subject into the mainstream off European painting. Nelsonâs victory over the French and death at the Battle of Trafalgar were regarded as momentous events, especially as most of western Europe was under Napoleonic control. Following the French Revolutionâs abolition of the Christian religion, this liberated Swiss artist could therefore translate the hero Nelson into a subject from Classical antiquity rather than depicting him being received into a Christian Heaven. Artists had always had great difficulty in depicting the arrival of ordinary mortals into Heaven as it was very difficult to personify God giving favour, other than to saints.
