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" Every day we should hear at least one good song , read one good poem , see one exquisite picture , and , if possible , speak a few sensible words . " Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

' Rear Admiral Lord Nelson ' Lemuel Francis Abbott (English 1760-1802) Oil on canvas , circa 1800. National Maritime Museum , Greenwich .

' Rear Admiral Lord Nelson '  Lemuel Francis Abbott ( English 1760-1802) Oil on canvas , circa 1800 . National Maritime Museum , Greenwich . ( A copy hangs in number at 10 , Downing Street ). A half-length portrait depicting Horatio Nelson ( 1758-1805) when a rear-admiral facing forward with his head turned to the left. He wears rear-admirals undress of 1795-1812 pattern , with gold epaulettes , the Nile decorations , and in his hat the distinctive diamond chelengk given to him by the Sultan of Turkey . On his jacket he wears the star of KB , granted to him on the 27th September 1797 , together with the Neapolitan Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit , and the Turkish Order of the Crescent . His empty right sleeve is pinned across the front of his coat by the star of his KB , a reminder that he lost his right arm at Santa Cruz, in July,1797 . The portrait is based upon a study made by Abbott at Greenwich Hospital in 1797 , while Nelson was convalescing from the loss of his arm and staying there with his former captain , the Lieutenant Governor , William Locker . This is shown by the ribbons of his slit upper right sleeve , which at the time helped accommodate the dressing on the stump of his arm , but were removed from his uniforms once the wound had healed . Nelson was rear admiral from 20th February 1797 until his promotion to vice-admiral on 1st June , 1801 .

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