Remains of Lord Viscount Nelson lying in state in the Painted Chamber at Greenwich Hospital

This drawing is one of a several by Auguste Charles Pugin which depict the funeral preparations for Admiral Lord Nelson. In this image, the body of Nelson can be seen lying in state in the painted chamber at Greenwich hospital. Visitors to the chamber are shown grouped together on the right, separated from the coffin by a barrier.

After joining the navy at a young age, Nelson quickly rose to the rank of captain. He led the British navy to a number of high-profile victories, including the Battle of St. Vincent, the Battle of the Nile and, lastly, the Battle of Trafalgar. It was during the Battle of Trafalgar that Nelson was mortally wounded by a bullet and he died on 21 October 1805.

Nelson's body was returned to England where it lay in the Upper Hall of Greenwich Hospital for three days. The room was draped in black and hung with sconces and heraldic shields, which Pugin has rendered in this drawing. On the morning of the 8 January 1805, the funeral procession made its way from Greenwich Hospital to the Admiralty and then onto St Paul's Cathedral where Nelson's body was buried in the crypt.

Pugin was a Paris-born architectural draughtsman and artist who enrolled at the Royal Academy in London in 1792. He became a draughtsman to the architect John Nash and collaborated with the publisher Rudolph Ackerman on 'The Microcosm of London' during the early 1800s. This drawing was engraved by J. Merigot and published on 1 April 1806, several months after Nelson's funeral.