This picture formed a pair with War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet also shown on this wall. Both refer to the art and history of Turner’s time. Peace represents the burial, at sea off Gibraltar, of the painter David Wilkie. He had died on his way back from the Middle East in 1841.In verses accompanying the picture Turner described howThe midnight torch gleamed o’er the steamer’s sideAnd Merit’s corse was yielded to the tide.The dark colouring stresses time and mood. Turner said he only wished he could have made it blacker.