Is This the Most Hair-Raising Historical Painting in Art?

The real-life story behind an unexpected masterpiece

Watson and the Shark (1778) by John Singleton Copley. Oil on canvas. 182.1 × 229 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., U.S. Image source

This painting shows a young man writhing in the deep water — face to face with a great shark.

The boy’s mouth is agape with fear, while his gaze is caught between his crew-mates and the teeth of the animal that’s about to close in for a deadly onslaught. As if mirroring each other, both boy and shark twist and flail in the water. His arm rises up just as the mouth of the fish opens wide.

The painting freezes the moment of highest action and danger. A rope is thrown; it loops around the boy’s arm, appearing to offer a lifeline.

At this point in the story, it’s not clear what the young man’s fate will be…

Detail of ‘Watson and the Shark’ (1778) by John Singleton Copley. Oil on canvas. 182.1 × 229 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., U.S. Image source

This extraordinary painting shows a real-life event from the year 1749, when a 14-year-old boy swimming in the silky-green seas just off the coast of Cuba was attacked by a shark.

At first, the teeth of the beast tore into his calf; with blood spilling into the water, the shark returned for a second ambush, dragging the boy under and severing his right foot.