Description
This album covers Edward Gennys Fanshawe's Baltic service in command of HMS 'Cossack' during the Crimean War, August 1854 - August 1855, and his brief transfer to the 'Hastings' in the Baltic and latterly at Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, 1855-56, though on her return to England in late 1855 he was invalided ashore until rejoining the ship at Queenstown in January 1856. It also covers his command of the 'Centurion' in the Mediterranean from May 1856 to June 1858, when he was again invalided home. Also included are holiday drawings made in Scotland in 1843 and 1883, Switzerland in 1877 and 1880, and a single drawing of Moulmein, Burma, made in 1846 during his Eastern posting as Commander in the 'Cruizer', 1844-46.
No. 9 in Fanshawe's Baltic and later album, 1843 - 83. Fold-out panoramic drawing on four joined sheets. The two on the left and the one on the far right are fold-outs from the fourth, which is stuck down on the album page. The page bears the artist's caption, 'Lisbon - Decr 3rd 1856' below the image. This impressive panorama shows the city from approximately south across the Tagus, towards what is now a modern dock area, with the waterfront of the main city centre round to the right. To the far left, the Ajuda Palace can be seen on the hill above Belem and the Jeronimos Monastery is probably the large building below to its left, though the Tower of Belem is not easily distinguishable. The sea lies down-river to the left. Today this viewpoint is dominated by the Bridge of the 25th April (originally the Salazar Bridge) crossing the Tagus from the heights just to the right of the white-sailed boat, centre left, and disappearing out of frame to the left. From the viewpoint Fanshawe has taken, the bridge deck would probably appear to be just above the peak of the boat's sail. His ship, 'Centurion', may be the one shown at anchor far right, but appears a little small for an 80-gun two-decker. Fanshawe was at Lisbon on five occasions from 1835 to 1861, the earlier ones quite lengthy. This 'highly-finished panorama sketch of the town of Lisbon and the river', made in 1856, is briefly mentioned in his 1904 biography, p. 346.
Image Licence
CC BY-NC-ND
Image Credit
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Country
Portugal
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes