Watson and the Shark

ca. 1778
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 717
Copley painted this rapid study for "Watson and the Shark" from his first rendering of the iconic work—now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington—in preparation for successive versions, found in the collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It depicts the future Lord Mayor of London, Brook Watson, who, as a teenager, lost his leg to a shark while swimming in Havana harbor in 1749. A Black sailor forms the apex of the composition, holding a rope for the victim who later famously defended the slave trade in the West Indies. Copley’s dramatic depiction of an ordinary man in the midst of an extraordinary event of unresolved peril in the Atlantic World revolutionized British-American history painting.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Watson and the Shark
  • Artist: John Singleton Copley (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1738–1815 London)
  • Date: ca. 1778
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 24 7/8 x 30 1/8 in. (63.2 x 76.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Gordon Dexter, 1942
  • Object Number: 42.71.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.