The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789

Infobox Painting


title=The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789
artist=John Trumbull
year=1789
type=Oil-on-canvas
height=180.3
width=271.8
height_inch=71
width_inch =107
museum = Metropolitan Museum of Art
city = New York City, New York, USA

"The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789" (also called "The Sortie made by the Garrison of Gibraltar in the Morning of the 27 of November 1781" [cite web|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAI5697|title=The Sortie made by the Garrison of Gibraltar in the Morning of the 27 of November 1781|publisher=Natural Maritime Museum|accessdate=2007-08-06] )is the title of a 1789 oil-on-canvas painting by American artist John Trumbull. The painting depicts the siege made by the Spanish forces against the British at Gibraltar in 1781.cite web|url=http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/trumbull.html|title=The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789|publisher=Acquired Tastes-Trumbull|accessdate=2007-08-06] Trumbull focuses on the death of Spanish officer Don Jose de Barboza who had been abandoned by his own troops but who nevertheless attacked the British column and thereby earned the respect of the British.

Background

The painting is based on a real attack that took place in Gibraltar on November 27 1781. [Bond, pages. 28-29] The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of American Independence.

Painting

The painting depicts the events of the night of November 26 1781 when British troops made a sudden attack (sortie), against the enemy batteries.cite web|url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/amico/amico956313-104701.html|title=John Trumbull - The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar 1789|publisher=Art Museum Images from Cartography Assosiates|accessdate=2007-08-06] The death of the Spanish officer Don Jose de Barboza is the focal point of the painting. He fell mortally wounded and died near his post refusing assistance having been abandoned by his troops. He is portrayed as rejecting the aid of General George Elliott, commander of the British troops.

In 1782, the Siege was lifted and Trumbull's friend Antonio de Poggi, an artist and dealer based in London, had been in the besieged garrison and told him of an earlier incident, which had occurred in November 1781.cite web|url=http://antiqbook.com/boox/don/03351.shtml|title=The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar in the Morning of the 27 of November 1781|publisher=AntiQbook|accessdate=2007-08-06] This had all the ingredients he sought:

Trumbull labored on the composition, over many sketches and three large completed canvases. As the project progressed, Trumbull's ambitions for it to be his big breakthrough to major patronage grew too. He refused large offers for the picture, preferring to exhibit it privately for admission fees.

Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford had called the painting:

Notes

References

*cite book |last=Bond |first=Peter |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=300 Years of British Gibraltar 1704-2004 |origdate= |origyear=2003 |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate=2007-07-30 |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition=1st Edition |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher=Peter-Tan Publishing Co. |location=Gibraltar |language=English |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=pages 28-29 |chapter=Gibraltar's Finest Hour The Great Siege 1779-1783 |chapterurl= |quote=