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Lot Essay
Carmichael was sent to the Baltic in 1855, as an artist for the Illustrated London News, in order to sketch events during the Crimean War.
Cronstadt, or Kronstadt, was the chief port of St Petersburg, and traditionally was the base of the Russian Baltic Fleet and the seat of the Russian Admiralty. On the outbreak of the Crimean War, Admiral Sir Charles Napier received the command of the largest fleet which the Royal Navy had assembled since the Napoleonic Wars, destined to act in the Baltic Sea. After a major success against the Russian fortress of Bomarsund on the Aland Islands, which were temporarily liberated from Russian rule, he was ordered to attack the great naval base of Cronstadt. He refused due to reports that had established that the fortress was probably impregnable without shallow-draught bomb vessels, which he did not have, and a great outcry (led by the Times newspaper) was raised against him for his apparent lack of determination. His inaction was thoroughly justified by the sequel: in 1855 a better-equipped Anglo-French fleet did bombard the fortress of Sveaborg, which was similar to Cronstadt, but despite an enormous expenditure of ammunition caused the defences only trifling structural damage.
We assume that this oil was completed from sketches that Carmichael had drawn in 1855 during the operations off Cronstadt.
Cronstadt, or Kronstadt, was the chief port of St Petersburg, and traditionally was the base of the Russian Baltic Fleet and the seat of the Russian Admiralty. On the outbreak of the Crimean War, Admiral Sir Charles Napier received the command of the largest fleet which the Royal Navy had assembled since the Napoleonic Wars, destined to act in the Baltic Sea. After a major success against the Russian fortress of Bomarsund on the Aland Islands, which were temporarily liberated from Russian rule, he was ordered to attack the great naval base of Cronstadt. He refused due to reports that had established that the fortress was probably impregnable without shallow-draught bomb vessels, which he did not have, and a great outcry (led by the Times newspaper) was raised against him for his apparent lack of determination. His inaction was thoroughly justified by the sequel: in 1855 a better-equipped Anglo-French fleet did bombard the fortress of Sveaborg, which was similar to Cronstadt, but despite an enormous expenditure of ammunition caused the defences only trifling structural damage.
We assume that this oil was completed from sketches that Carmichael had drawn in 1855 during the operations off Cronstadt.