Art Work > Literary Portraits

Billy Budd lives in fiction and folklore of the sea
"Ghost Ship"...Billy Budd topforeman H.M.S. Bellpotent
oil on canvas
36 x 24

Herman Melville created a character that represented innocence. He was treated with malice. His last short story featured Billy (Budd was a name that evokes a flower or plant about to bloom- his life cut short) he was a Christ like figure . At his hanging chips from the yardarm he died on became as precious as the Cross