Focus on this artwork and discuss the Painting.
Copley positions Chatham beneath the tapestries depicting the defeat of the Spanish Armada made by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. Chatham's vision of the strength of the British Empire resting upon commercial expansion via the sea and his collapsing beneath the depiction of one of England's greatest naval victories are connected and symbolic.Copley also shows Lord Mansfield, one of Chatham's enemies, seated in indifference.
British Empire Lord Mansfield Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom Spanish Armada England