A newly discovered 200-year-old picture showing Capt. James Cook fighting for his life in Hawai'i is grabbing attention in the art world for the way it shows the British explorer going to his death.

For years, most paintings and engravings of the event have depicted Cook trying to act as a peacemaker in his fatal 1779 encounter with Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay, signaling his troops to hold fire while he is stabbed in the back.

The newly discovered John Cleveley watercolor, based on eyewitness accounts and found recently in an English home, shows Cook engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Hawaiians.