"Turner tackles a serious social subject, and produces a dazzlingly powerful image. Paradoxically, for a scene set at sea, he deploys a fiery palette of oranges and yellows to show the sunset reflecting a scene of human brutality. Turner was not just an artist pre-occupied by the aesthetic. This painting was owned by John Ruskin, Turner's great supporter." - Tim Wright, GQ interview.
Chaos at the front and calm in the centre- background.