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George Carter, fl.1769-1784
oil on canvas; 151.2 x 213.4 cm
Carter's magnificent history painting portrays the death of Captain Cook as a battle between the forces of light and darkness, between good and evil. Cook's men occupy the lighter left half of the painting, racing to his defence or being sheltered by him. In the right half of the painting, the darkened bodies of the Hawaiians, their faces drawn as caricatures of savagery, appear to swarm beneath a lowering black cliff, threatening to engulf the British. Located just inside the dark half of the painting, preventing the wave of islanders from crashing into the sailors, is the doomed figure of Cook. Clothing him in pure white, the artist heightens the contrast between Cook and his assailants, making a moral point that would not have been lost on contemporary viewers.
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A selection of images from the Paradise Possessed exhibition. National Library of Australia. Click here to find out more about NLA exhibitions. Copyright: ©1998, National Library of Australia
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