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Lot Essay
Since the fourteenth century, the British Royal Naval fleet has gathered in the Solent, at Spithead, a sheltered area of water between Portsmouth and Ryde, for the monarch to inspect the collective ships of the navy. The review originally occurred when the fleet was mobilised for war, but increasingly acted as a ‘show of strength’ to discourage potential enemies. The first recorded gathering of ships was in June 1346 when Edward III inspected the fleet before it sailed to war with France, but the first acknowledged Fleet Review on record was in 1415 when Henry V reviewed his navy before the French campaign that ultimately led to the Battle of Agincourt.
However, it was George III who set the Fleet Review standards, when in June 1773 he used the anchorage to display the entire fleet of twenty-five ships. George III took a great interest in the event, staying in Portsmouth for several days, during which time he held a levee, dined on H.M.S. Barfleur, conferred knighthoods and visited the dockyard buildings. He also used the opportunity to sail on the Royal yacht, the newly renamed Princess Augusta. Launched in 1771 at Deptford as the Augusta, 184 tons, and formally renamed Princess Augusta in 1773, in honour of George III’s second daughter, she replaced the previous Royal yacht, the smaller Augusta (1761-1771), herself a rebuild of the outmoded Charlotte (1677-1761).
Shown here in the centre of the canvas, flying the Royal Standard on her main mast, and with the flag of the Lord High Admiral atop her foremast to indicate that the King is on board, the Princess Augusta is surrounded by other smaller yachts with the larger ships of the fleet visible in the distance. Given the significance of the 1773 Fleet Review, and the spectacle it created, it is more than likely that Holman witnessed the scene at first hand before creating this striking composition. Holman’s contemporaries, such as John Cleveley, were almost certainly present as evidenced in a detailed watercolour of George III reviewing the Fleet at Spithead, 22 June 1773, depicting HMS 'Royal Oak' (Greenwich, National Maritime Musuem). Holman was justifiably proud of the painting, and its companion piece, The fleet saluting His Majesty when on board the Barfleur, and the two works were the first paintings that he exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1774.
The spectacle of the amassed ships of the Royal Navy caught both the monarch and populace’s imaginations and since the nineteenth century Fleet Reviews have often been held to celebrate the coronation of a new monarch, or to mark royal jubilees. Perhaps one of the most remarkable was held on 28 June 2005 as part of the bi-centenary celebrations of the Battle of Trafalgar when a total of 167 ships representing over 35 countries gathered at Spithead to be inspected by H.M. the Queen, Elizabeth II. The review was followed in the evening by a son et lumière show where 17 tall ships re-enacted the battle with blazing canon broadsides, gun smoke and state of the art pyrotechnics.
However, it was George III who set the Fleet Review standards, when in June 1773 he used the anchorage to display the entire fleet of twenty-five ships. George III took a great interest in the event, staying in Portsmouth for several days, during which time he held a levee, dined on H.M.S. Barfleur, conferred knighthoods and visited the dockyard buildings. He also used the opportunity to sail on the Royal yacht, the newly renamed Princess Augusta. Launched in 1771 at Deptford as the Augusta, 184 tons, and formally renamed Princess Augusta in 1773, in honour of George III’s second daughter, she replaced the previous Royal yacht, the smaller Augusta (1761-1771), herself a rebuild of the outmoded Charlotte (1677-1761).
Shown here in the centre of the canvas, flying the Royal Standard on her main mast, and with the flag of the Lord High Admiral atop her foremast to indicate that the King is on board, the Princess Augusta is surrounded by other smaller yachts with the larger ships of the fleet visible in the distance. Given the significance of the 1773 Fleet Review, and the spectacle it created, it is more than likely that Holman witnessed the scene at first hand before creating this striking composition. Holman’s contemporaries, such as John Cleveley, were almost certainly present as evidenced in a detailed watercolour of George III reviewing the Fleet at Spithead, 22 June 1773, depicting HMS 'Royal Oak' (Greenwich, National Maritime Musuem). Holman was justifiably proud of the painting, and its companion piece, The fleet saluting His Majesty when on board the Barfleur, and the two works were the first paintings that he exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1774.
The spectacle of the amassed ships of the Royal Navy caught both the monarch and populace’s imaginations and since the nineteenth century Fleet Reviews have often been held to celebrate the coronation of a new monarch, or to mark royal jubilees. Perhaps one of the most remarkable was held on 28 June 2005 as part of the bi-centenary celebrations of the Battle of Trafalgar when a total of 167 ships representing over 35 countries gathered at Spithead to be inspected by H.M. the Queen, Elizabeth II. The review was followed in the evening by a son et lumière show where 17 tall ships re-enacted the battle with blazing canon broadsides, gun smoke and state of the art pyrotechnics.