BBC Radio 4: Nelson’s portrait
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006This is exactly what Nelson looked like … it’s his favourite portrait!
Listeners to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on January 24 heard a discussion of what the great British hero looked like, and how could we know if old portraits in general truly portrayed how their subjects looked? But here at Artists Harbour Gallery, just 80 yards from HMS Victory in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, we know EXACTLY what Nelson looked like, and we can prove it.
1. Around 1800 Lord Nelson attended a dinner party at which Simon de Koster sketched his likeness (see picture). We have copied this picture from the memorabilia collection of the family descended from one of HMS Victory’s officers at Trafalgar, Lt. John Yule.
2. The Yule family have references from contemporaneous works which record Nelson himself saying that of all the paintings and sketches he had seen of himself, de Koster’s sketch was the one he liked the most. This comment shows Nelson as definitely not vain about his personal appearance, and especially his nose!
3. Neither of the two points above conclusively proves that this sketch is a good likeness. However, during the Trafalgar bicentenary celebrations last summer we had the good fortune to meet four descendants from the great man’s family - the three handsome young Nelson brothers (one’s a Royal Marine, one’s in the RAF and one’s a Royal Engineer) and their attractive female cousin.
All four had elements of Nelson’s features in their faces, but the young lady was the spitting image of de Koster’s sketch of Nelson … conclusive proof, we say, that this picture is what Nelson looked like.
She too was modest, saying only that “yes, one look at our noses (hers and Nelson’s) leaves little doubt about the family relationship”. They were indeed strikingly similar noses and combined with the rest of her appearance left us in no doubt of the quality of de Koster’s likeness of Horatio.
But here’s another puzzle - they looked so like each other, but she was attractive and he wasn’t. Why ?
Contact us if you wish to buy a modern print from Nelson’s favourite portrait of himself. The print is sold mounted for £17.50, including VAT.
