Turner was so deeply attached to this painting that he said no amount of money could ever make him part from it.

Here he depicts the Temeraire, a ship renowned for its valor at the Battle of Trafalgar, being tugged along the River Thames for dismantling. It’s a scene that juxtaposes the old with the new — the former represented by the ghostly sailing ship, and the latter symbolized by the steam-powered tug.

But not all is in favor of progress: the red smoke belched out by the tugboat seems to indicate a technical advancement, yet one without grace or dignity — two qualities, coincidentally, possessed by the Temeraire.

While the painting shows the setting grandeur of a once great fighting vessel, it also reminds you of the degree to which well-earned honor can bear you on with grace and dignity until the very end.

Note: To keep costs as low as we can for you, we work with various high quality printers throughout the US and Europe. Your print will be shipped from the printer located closest to you. For this reason, you might see two shipping costs at check-out: one for coffee (shipped from our roastery) and one for art prints.