Peace – Burial at Sea is an oil painting on canvas by the English Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851), first exhibited in 1842. The painting serves as a memorial tribute to Turner's contemporary, the Scottish painter Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841), depicting Wilkie's burial at sea. It was intended as a companion piece to War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet (also 1842) which alludes to the sordid demise of the former Emperor of FranceNapoleon Bonaparte (thus "War" and "Peace").[1][2] The two works are characterized by their sharply contrasting colours and tones: War utilizes a strident yellow and red while Peace is painted a cool blend of white, blue and black. [3]
The painting was part of the Turner bequest gifted by the artist to the British nation in 1859, and is now in the permanent collection of Tate Britain.[4]
In July of 2013, the National Gallery of Australia physically recreated the painting in real time with live action inclusive of a ship in Sydney Harbour in conjunction with the
exhibit at the museum Turner from the Tate: The Making of a Master.[6]
Media related to Peace - Burial at Sea (Turner) at Wikimedia Commons
