Two studies for Nelson sealing the Copenhagen Letter; and John Knox Preaching

Nelson sealing the Copenhagen Letter was never realised as a finished picture, but an oil study is at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (WA1970.115), and another pen and ink drawing at the British Museum (1907,0629.1). The Battle of Copenhagen was fought on 1 April 1801 to reduce the Danish fleet representing the Northern Confederation. By the early afternoon the majority of the Danish ships had been silenced, but the fighting continued, and so Nelson sent a flag of truce with a letter to the Crown Prince threatening that if the remaining Danish ships did not stop firing, he would set fire to the Danes floating batteries without means of saving their crews. This produced an extended truce which led to a British victory.
Wilkie seems to have planned the subject as a companion to Columbus at the Convent of La Rabida, finished in 1835 for Robert Holford of Westcliff House, Niton, Isle of Wight (now North Carolina Museum of Art).
The Preaching of John Knox before the Lords of the Congregation 10th June 1559 (Tate Britain) was commissioned by Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) in 1822, and completed in 1832. It was one of his best-recieved paintings when shown at the Royal Academy and La Belle Assemble wrote in June 1832 that with it Wilkie had 'suddenly raised himself to pre-eminence in the highest and most intellectual branch of painting.'