John Keyes Sherwin (engraved by) after William Hodges
The Landing at Erramanga, one of the nNew Hebridies
engraving
inscribed with names of engraver and artist, title and playe number (LXII) below image
24.0
x 46.0
cm
$1,175.00 including GST
Published: London: Wm. Strahan & Thos. Cadell, 1 February, 1777
Comments:: Hodges' 'Landing' paintings, unlike his other work relating to the voyage, were designed and painted according to the conventions of history
painting then fashionable in England. These conventions drew upon
attitudes, compositions and costumes borrowed from classical
sculpture and the masters of Italian painting…
Depicting the first European contact with Pacific Islanders, Hodges'
paintings, and the engravings made from them to illustrate Cook's
second voyage journal, contain all the drama'the tension,
confrontation and danger'one would expect in the making of history.
Cook, determined to take the public presentation of his second
Pacific voyage into his own hands, rewrote his journal a number of
times throughout the voyages, perfecting an account of which he would
be the hero. Hodges, a great admirer of Cook and well aware of the
historical importance of his discoveries, has created the
illustrations to support Cook's heroic role. (From the catalogue, the National Library of Australia)