Creative Execution: What Great Leaders Do to Unleash Bold Thinking and Innovation

Nelson’s Thunderous Legacy

Nelson’s state funeral in January 1806 was a solemn event that drew England together when the country needed it most. After three days of public viewing, Nelson’s casket was taken to St Paul’s Cathedral, where 180 naval officers and “mourners, Nelson’s family, the royal family, peers of the realm, government and opposition politicians, the alderman and sheriffs of the City of London” attended his funeral service, along with thousands of mourners outside the cathedral.²⁸ Benjamin West, who was commissioned to paint the Death of Nelson in 1808, captured the public’s adoration for Nelson when he explained that “There was no other way of representing the death of a hero but by an Epic representation of it. It must … excite ...