Watson and the Shark

Watson and the Shark

Have you ever asked yourself, what is the earliest documented shark attack on a human? Watson and the Shark is the title of a 1778 oil painting in which John Singleton Copley documented the earliest attack.

In the center of the painting there is a crew of nine men in a small boat. There are three white men rowing the boat; two on the middle, and one on the right back side. The rowing man facing the front of the boat has on tan cotton pants, and a big dirty white shirt that you can see fits him somewhat big due to the fact that it is so wrinkly. He has a blue green scarf around his neck. This man has long hair that is in a pony tail. He has a worried expression on his face. As so do the other two men in front of him.

You can only see the upper half of the other two rowing men. They as well have a white shirt that fits them loosely. A yellow polka-doted red scarf is what one of the men wearing while the other has a green one. The two men have short hair up to their ears, but the man with the red scarf has on a hat that matched the longed haired man's scarf. All three men are facing towards 14-year-old orphan Brook Watson who is desperately reaching out for help.

Brook is in the water at the bottom left of the painting. He is faced up and his flesh is bare with his left leg up covering his nakedness. Watson has white or blonde hair and he is in a state of shock. He appears to be too shocked to actually be frightened. It is as though he has given up hope on being rescued, and just wants his suffering to come to a end. Although it seems that this is the shark's first attempt in killing Watson, a closer look tells us otherwise. Watson's right foot is missing in the painting with with his right hand reaching out. Their are some traces of blood in Watson's right leg and on the shark's teeth.

The shark in the painting is drawn in a very unrealistic way. It appears to have a different kind of teeth, and has the added quality of lips to which all real sharks lack. Its' eyes are similar to that of a cow and not an actual size. Its' length seems to be extraordinary as we see how the tail rises above the water's surface, away from the shark's head thus adding the illusion that there might be another shark present. Another unusual quality is the hump on its' head.

There is a shipmate standing on the back of the boat with what appears to be spear, about to strike the hungry shark. He has on black shoes with what looks to be a gold buckle on them. He has gray socks that reach all the way to his knee. It looks like he has a dark blue tights on with baggy white shorts. His white buttoned shirt is buttoned down, and he has a black unbuttoned over coat. The crew member has long brown thick hair and is flowing in the wind. He has his left leg up on the rim of the boat for leverage as he strikes the shark for the first time. In between his legs you can see another man who does not look scared at all.