Death of Cook is the name of several painting

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

s depicting the 1779 death of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 explorer and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an discoverer of the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

, Captain James Cook at Kealakekua Bay

Kealakekua Bay

Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona.Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings on...

. Most of these paintings seem to go back to an original by John Cleveley the Younger

John Cleveley the Younger

John Cleveley the Younger was the son of John Cleveley the Elder. He and his twin brother Robert were both, like their father, marine painters...

, painted in 1784, although other versions, like that of John Webber

John Webber

John Webber was an English artist best known for his images of early Alaska and Hawaii.Webber was born on 6 October 1751 in London, educated in Switzerland and studied painting at Paris....

, stood model for later copies too. Such artworks were reproduced in paint

Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...

 and engraving

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

 over the course of modern world history. The much more famous reproductions, like the one at the Honolulu Academy of Arts

Honolulu Academy of Arts

The Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...

 (allegedly based on the Cleveley version), often depicted Cook as a peacemaker trying to stop the fighting between his sailors and the native Hawaiians

Native Hawaiians

Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...

 that they had challenged in combat.

However, in 2004, the original Cleverley painting was discovered in a private collection belonging to a family since 1851. Cleveley's brother was a member of Cook's crew, and the painting is said to concur with eyewitness accounts. The original depicted Cook involved in hand-to-hand combat with the native Hawaiians. The discovery of the original painting has not changed the way most historians

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 view Cook's relationship with the Hawaiians, as during his last voyage, Cook was reported by his contemporaries to have become irrationally violent.

The original painting, worth approximately USD $200,000 to $300,000, was put up for auction by Christie's auction house

Christie's

Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Later

A later painting titled The Death of Captain James Cook, 14 February 1779

The Death of Captain James Cook (Zoffany)

The Death of Captain James Cook, 14 February 1779 is a painting by Johann Zoffany. The painting records the loss of the British explorer Captain James Cook. The painting was completed in 1794 some years after the death of Cook in 1779. Other paintings of the death of Cook were painted earlier...

by Johann Zoffany

Johann Zoffany

Johan Zoffany, Zoffani or Zauffelij was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England...

 was completed in 1794 and was the painting owned by Cook's widow. This painting is in the National Maritime Museum

National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...

.