Two polar bears savage the remains of a lost Arctic expedition among broken masts, a torn red sail and the ice. Edwin Landseer imagined the scene from the fate of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition to find the North-West Passage, which vanished with two Royal Navy ships and 129 men. Look for Franklin's telescope, one of the objects the Inuit later found. The title is an old proverb: man proposes, but God disposes.

Thomas Holloway bought the painting in 1881 for the women's college he was founding, a surprising choice at a time when sweet, sentimental pictures were thought suitable for young women. A legend says the painting is cursed, so during exams it is covered with a Union Jack. It is at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Egham.