The Slave Ship
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"The Slave Ship" or "Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying — Typhon coming on"[1] is a painting by the British artist J. M. W. Turner, first exhibited in 1840.
The subject of the painting is the practice of 18th century slave traders who would throw the dead and dying human 'cargo' overboard during the middle passage in the Atlantic Ocean in order that they might claim the insurance for 'drowning'. Turner was inspired by lines from James Thomson's The Seasons: [2]
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- Increasing still the Terrors of these Storms,
- His Jaws horrific arm'd with threefold Fate,
- Here dwells the direful Shark. Lur'd by the Scent
- Of steaming Crrouds, of rank Disease, and Death,
- Behold! he rushing cuts the briny Flood,
- Swift as the Gale can bear the Ship along;
- And, from the Partners of the cruel Trade,
- Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her Sons,
- Demands his share of Prey, demands themselves.
- The stormy Fate descend: one Death involves
- Tyrants and Slaves; when strait, their mangled Limbs
- Crashing at once, he dyes the purple Seas
- With Gore, and riots in the Venegeful Meal.
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- 'Summer', ll.1013-25
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By painting such an emotive subject Turner was attempting to assist in the abolitionist campaign. The violent power of the sea and the strange sea creatures represent the forces of nature punishing the guilty. The painting was widely admired for its use of colour and the way in which sea and sky merge around the distant ship. In the lower portion of the painting, hands of enslaved Africans can be seen still shackled. The painting is currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA.[3]
