Portrait of the Waterloo conqueror 25 years after the battle: musing Wellington by B. R. Haydon and W. Wordsworth

Was contemporary Englishmen' perception of Wellington as positive and unequivocal as it seems 200 years after the Battle of Waterloo? Analysis of an ekphrastic dialogue of his outstanding contemporaries historical painter B. R. Haydon and poet W. Wordsworth, a part of their more lasting dialogue of Creators, aimed at comprehension of the overwhelming events of the day, their place in history and the role of Art, provides an answer to this question. By means of sister-arts, painting and poetry, commenting and complementing each other, the authors re-create a polysemantic image, trying to present it not only in their present-day but also in a broader historical context.