Flames burn through a three-masted ship caught in rough conditions in A Fire at Sea: Abandon Ship!, a mid-19th-century oil painting by an unknown artist.
Image courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park
Flames burn through a three-masted ship caught in rough conditions in A Fire at Sea: Abandon Ship!, a mid-19th-century oil painting by an unknown artist. Near the burning ship are two lifeboats filled with crew members and passengers. The wind moves across the painting toward the burning ship, where smoke billows in large clouds above it. Darkness dominates the upper right corner, but sunbeams pushing through the clouds shine an almost direct light on the lifeboats, highlighting them at the center of the painting. The light creates a heavenly glow, as if to signal that the passengers will be okay.
According to Lyles Forbes, vice president of collections and chief curator at The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia, works by unidentified artists are as important to marine history as those produced by known artists. “The narrative captured in the painting is more important than the identity of the artist,” says Forbes.
In this piece, says Forbes, the artist…
