The Battle of the Nile

De Loutherbourg's The Battle of the Nile of 1800 depicts Admiral Nelson's decisive victory of August 1, 1798, when he destroyed the French fleet at anchor in Aboukir Bay, trapping Napoleon's army in Egypt and destroying French naval power in the Mediterranean. The battle's spectacular destruction of French ships of the line — including the explosion of the flagship L'Orient — provided spectacular material for de Loutherbourg's pyrotechnic style. The painting contributed to the enormous popular celebration of Nelson that characterized British culture throughout the Napoleonic period.

The nocturnal battle scene is dominated by the catastrophic explosion of the L'Orient, which illuminates the entire bay with fiery light. De Loutherbourg's theatrical rendering of the explosion's light effects against the dark sky creates one of the most dramatic images of naval warfare in Romantic art.