Study for "The Siege of Gibraltar": Figures Scaling Floating Battery; Cannon

Art Historical Context

John Singleton Copley, renowned American-born painter who later thrived in London, created this dynamic preparatory drawing around 1785–86 as part of his ambitious series on *The Siege of Gibraltar*. This pivotal event during the American Revolutionary War1779–83) saw British forces heroically defend the Rock of Gibraltar against Spanish and French assaults, including innovative "floating batteries"—explosive ships packed with gunpowder. Copley's monumental history paintings celebrated these triumphs, blending neoclassical grandeur with dramatic realism to captivate 18th-century audiences. Re...

About the Artist

John Singleton Copley · 1738–1815

John Singleton Copley (1738–1815) was the greatest American painter of the colonial era and one of the finest portraitists in the English-speaking world. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was largely self-taught, learning from mezzotint reproductions of European paintings and from his stepfather Peter Pelham, an engraver. By his early twenties, Copley had established himself as Boston's leading po...