CIRCLE OF FRANCIS SWAINE (1725-1782) THE BURNING OF THE PRINCE GEORGE, BAY OF BISCAY, 1758 oil on canvas 53.5 x 66.5cm Provenance: Christie's, Pictures by Old Masters sale, 31.01.1975, Lot 134 Possibly one of the only extant depictions of this scene, the painting depicts HMS Prince George, then seventy six years old having been rebuilt twice, burning in the Bay of Biscay. The ship accidentally caught fire under the command of Rear Admiral Thomas Broderick, Admiral of the White, and of a crew of 745 men, only 260 survived. The late E.H.H. Archibald, Keeper of Paintings, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, confirmed the subject of the painting in 1975, and a note is attached from him to the frame. There is a record of Francis Holman painting the scene and exhibiting it at the Free Society of Artists in 1767.