The Slave Ship
E92826
The Slave Ship is a powerful 1840 Romantic-era painting by J. M. W. Turner that depicts a slave ship sailing into a storm as enslaved people are thrown overboard, serving as a searing indictment of the transatlantic slave trade.
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Romantic-era artwork
→
painting → |
| alternativeTitle |
Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhoon coming on
→
|
| artForm |
oil on canvas
→
|
| artHistoricalSignificance |
key anti-slavery image in 19th-century art
→
major example of Turner's late style → |
| artist |
J. M. W. Turner
→
|
| artisticStyle |
dramatic light and color
→
loose, expressive brushwork → |
| collection |
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
→
|
| colorPalette |
deep blues and blacks
→
intense reds and oranges → |
| countryOfOrigin |
United Kingdom
→
|
| creator |
J. M. W. Turner
→
|
| culturalContext |
British abolitionist movement
→
|
| depictionType |
allegorical representation of slavery
→
|
| depicts |
approaching typhoon
→
enslaved people being thrown overboard → sea creatures attacking bodies → shackled limbs in the water → slave ship → stormy sea → sunset → |
| exhibitedAt |
Royal Academy of Arts, London
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|
| firstExhibited |
1840
→
|
| genre |
history painting
→
marine painting → |
| hasPart |
distant ship silhouette
→
figures of drowning enslaved people → turbulent waves → |
| inception |
1840
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|
| inspiredBy |
Zong massacre
→
accounts of slave ship atrocities → |
| intendedAs |
indictment of the slave trade
→
|
| languageOfTitle |
English
→
|
| location |
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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|
| mainSubject |
atrocities of slavery
→
human suffering → moral condemnation of slavery → transatlantic slave trade → |
| materialUsed |
oil paint
→
|
| movement |
Romanticism
→
|
| notableWorkOf |
J. M. W. Turner
→
|
| period |
19th century
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|
| support |
canvas
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|
| theme |
human cruelty
→
moral and spiritual judgment → nature’s power → sublime in nature → |
| title |
The Slave Ship
→
|
Referenced by (2)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
J. M. W. Turner
→
|
notableWork |
|
The Slave Ship
→
|
title |