The Fighting Temeraire by J. M. W. Turner is the painting that shows the last journey of the Fighting Temeraire as it was towed away to the Thames to be broken up in a Rotherhithe shipyard after thirty-three years of not being used. The Fighting Temeraire was once a gunship that had fought gallantly in Lord Nelson's fleet at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

The painting is J. M. W. Turner's tribute for the Temeraire's heroic past (The National Gallery). The glorious sunset depicts the end of the Fighting Temeraire, honouring what it had went through. The colours and specific angles in the painting shows the details of Turner's work. "If you were to stand inches away from the painting, you would clearly see miniscule things like individual windows, hanging ropes, and decorative designs on the exterior of the ship. However, if you looked over to the sun and clouds you would see a heavy accumulation of paint clumped on the canvas, giving it a sense of chaos and spontaneity." (Fox, (n.d.))

I like the soft colours of the painting an the way it was painted, as it brings a rather calm and nostalgic feeling when looking at it.


References
The National Gallery. (n.d.). Heroine of Trafalgar: The Fighting Temeraire. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from The National Gallery: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/learn-about-art/paintings-in-depth/heroine-of-trafalgar-the-fighting-temeraire

Fox, A. (n.d.). Turner, The Fighting Temeraire. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/england-constable-turner/a/turner-the-fighting-temeraire