Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758-1805), c.1801-03 (oil on canvas)

Creator: Simon de Koster An unfinished head-and-shoulders portrait of Nelson in profile to left. He is in vice- admiral's undress uniform, 1795-1812, and wears the riband of the Order of the Bath. Done from life, the original sketch is claimed to be one of the portraits that Nelson thought a close likeness. He is shown with weather-beaten skin, grey hair fashioned in a queue and he stares fixedly ahead with his sound (grey) left eye. The loosely sketched background suggests clouds. His initial portrait was probably made for Lady Hamilton a few days before he sailed for Denmark. This version is thought to have been made for Nelson's sister Susannah.