Hunter Museum of American Art

Analysis

Robert Salmon was a well known painter of maritime scenes in Boston, particularly acclaimed for his ship "portraits" and battle scenes such as the one seen here. This painting was created while Salmon was in London and it commemorates a battle off the French coast near Dunkerque. Fireships, boats used in battle that were deliberately set on fire, blaze on the right as the crew members who set off the fires escape on the smaller boats on the far right.