Iconic Hero

So here is another attempt at trying to combine sculpture and paintings: this time, my photograph of Horatio Nelson on top of Nelson's Column and JMW Turner's painting "The Battle of Trafalgar" (from 1822).

Nelson has gone into history as one of the greatest heroic figures in Britain's military history but I find him fascinating because of his mass of contradictions and contrasts.

He was physically brave, oblivious to personal danger, yet he was physically tiny (less than 5 feet tall). Diminutive but utterly inspiring; yet at the same time wholly vain. The most famous seaman in British history yet terribly sea-sick. A leader who led from the front; wounded in almost every action he fought. A society figure who flouted all the rules of society; notorious for his affair with Emma Hamilton.

And finally, in his hour of ultimate victory at Trafalgar he was mortally wounded.

He has become the epitome of the heroic icon yet I find him fascinating as much for his imperfections and human frailty as much for his merits.