J.M.W Turner, 'Slave Ship' (1840)

Mini intro (5)

Date: 1840

Artist: JMW Turner

Style: Romanticism

Size: 90.8 ×122.6 cm

Medium: oil on canvas

Key facts (4)

Based on Zong Massacre of 1783

In 1833, Slavery Abolition Act put into effect

In 1838, all slaves of British colonies were emancipated

Ship’s underwriters were sued for the costs of the slaves’ lives that had been lost

Composition (4)

Cropping technique makes the ocean look bigger

Diagonal horizon line creates a dynamic and perpetually chaotic scene

No clear divide between sea and sky, distortion and unease

Sea takes up entirety of bottom composition

Painting style (4)

Aggressive

Impasto used in sky

Fingernail marks and paint applied with a palette knife, simulates violent power of sea

Directional brushstrokes used to convey movement, they go in different directions to disorientate and confuse viewer

Subject matter (8)

Only certain limbs visible (a hand or a leg), small scale against vast sea - vulnerability and inferiority to nature

Fiery sunset of reds, oranges and yellows - violent and dramatic scene

Ship in left background assumed to be slave ship

Birds circling around like vultures - alludes to death and rotting bodies of slaves

Slaves recognised by severed leg with shackle around it (bottom right)

Red in water - suggests blood, reflects violence and injury

Central reflection of sun highlights ship’s inferiority in scale compared to sea

Waves as tall as the ship (agitated and powerful)