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"The Slave Ship" or "Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhoon coming on" is a painting by the British artist J. M. W. Turner, first exhibited in 1840. In this classic example of a Romantic landscape painting, Turner depicts a ship, visible in the background, sailing through a tumultuous sea of churning water and leaving scattered human forms floating in its wake.

History
J. M. W. Turner was inspired to paint “The Slave Ship” in 1840 after reading a book, “The History and Abolition of the Slave Trade,” written by Thomas Clarkson in 1808 and reprinted in 1839. In 1783, the setting of the book, slaving companies reimbursed sea captains for slaves lost at sea, but not for those who died onboard, believing that the captains shouldn’t be compensated for their maltreatment of the slaves. The book depicted a captain, confronted with the problem of a ship full of sick slaves and an oncoming typhoon, choosing to throw the slaves overboard so that he could claim the insurance for drowning.

This gruesome scene likely inspired Turner to create his landscape and to choose to coincide its exhibition with a meeting of the British Anti-Slavery Society. Although slavery had been outlawed in the British Empire since 1833, Turner – and many other abolitionists – believed that slavery should be outlawed around the world. Turner thus exhibited his painting during the anti-slavery conference, intending for Crown Prince Albert, who was speaking at the event, to see it and be moved to increase British anti-slavery efforts. Placed next to the painting were lines from Turner’s own untitled poem, written in 1812:


 * “Aloft all hands, strike the top-masts and belay;
 * Yon angry setting sun and fierce-edged clouds
 * Declare the Typhon's coming.
 * Before it sweeps your decks, throw overboard
 * The dead and dying - ne'er heed their chains
 * Hope, Hope, fallacious Hope!
 * Where is thy market now?"

While the impact of the painting can’t be accurately measured, it likely contributed to the passing of an 1843 law in which the British Empire pledged to more effectively suppress slavery and the slave trade. Once that law had been passed, a cascade of anti-slavery laws from many other Atlantic countries were passed, dramatically decreasing the amount of slavery in the 19th century.

Description
The first impression that the painting creates is of an enormous deep-red sunset over a stormy sea, likely an indication of an approaching typhoon. Upon closer inspection one can discern a ship sailing off into the distance. The masts of she ship are red, matching the blood-red color of the sky and the sickly copper color of the water, which serves to blur the lines between various objects in the painting. The ship’s sails are also not unfurled, revealing that the ship is preparing for the typhoon. In the foreground can be seen a number of bodies floating in the water; their dark skin and chained hands and feet indicate that they are slaves, thrown overboard from the ship. Looking even more carefully, one can see fish and sea monsters swimming in the water – possibly preparing to eat the slaves – and sea gulls circling overhead above the chaos.

Consistent with Turner’s emphasis on color in many of his other works, the painting’s central focus is on the interactions of various colors. Few defined brush strokes appear in the painting, and objects, colors, and figures become indistinct. Rather, objects are defined by their colors in the painting, and some objects (like the bodies of the slaves and the incoming storm) have no real border at all, being solely defined by the contrast with the pigments around them. The most prominent colors are the red of the sunset – encroaching into the water and ship as well – and the maroon of the bodies and hands of the slaves.

Style and Interpretation
Turner’s emphasis on color rather than design is typical of many Romantic works of the time. The indistinct shapes and the pervasiveness of the sunset’s blood-red color serve to convey a focus on nature and illustrate the idea that nature is superior to man. Other colors in the painting, such as the cool blue of the ocean and the black caps of the water, bring the ocean’s hues to life and give the viewer a sense of the true emotions of the natural world. The fact that the figures in the painting are depicted as minuscule – and that even the ship is shunted to the background in favor of the water and the sun – further serve to decrease the emphasis on humanity and transfer it to nature.

By placing the emphasis on nature rather than on figures or objects, Turner evokes the concept of the “sublime”, coined by Edmund Burke. The idea of the sublime is of the utter powerlessness and terror of humanity in the face of nature; by dramatizing the strength of the waves and sun, Turner uses “The Slave Ship” to perfectly encapsulate Burke’s definition of the term. Turner’s decision to paint the work with a series of quick, frenzied brush strokes rather than carefully defined lines adds to the intensity of the painting, serving to make the viewer feel even more overwhelmed. Though the painting’s size is relatively small compared to many Romantic landscape paintings, it still captivates the viewer in arguably a more powerful way.

Some viewers have argued that “The Slave Ship” actually represents Turner’s reaction to the Industrial Revolution. The painting might be viewed as an allegory against the exploitation of slaves and other human labor in favor of machines and economic advancement, represented by the coming storm engulfing the cruel captain. However, the storm could also be viewed as a representation of nature’s dominance over man and of the ultimate futility in trying to industrialize and advance society.

Critics
Mark Twain noted that it reminded him of a "cat having a fit in a platter of tomatoes."

The painting was the subject of an extended poetic sequence or verse novel by David Dabydeen, Turner (1994; reissued 2002).