The painting, containing vivid suggestions of martyrdom, broke a standard rule of historical portraiture by featuring individuals who had not been present at the scene and dressed in modern, instead of classical, costumes.

Although successful in holding the British line against the French and winning the battle, General Wolfe was mortally wounded by several gunshots.

[4] The depiction of the Indigenous warrior in the painting, by kneeling with his chin on his fist and looking at General Wolfe, has been analyzed in various ways.

In art, the touching of one's face with one's hand is a sign of deep thought and intelligence (thus, Auguste Rodin's The Thinker).

Although the depicted events had taken place only eleven years earlier, the prevailing convention of West's time would have been to convey such subject matter in a history painting, an artistic tradition in which the portrayal of contemporary dress was considered unsuitable.

After the completion of the painting, George III refused to purchase it since he believed that West's choice of clothing compromised the dignity of the image.

[8] William Woollett's engraving was the best-known copy of West's original painting and became popular around the world.

[18] A collection of responses by the artist were shown in a 1993 exhibition Kanata: Robert Houle's Histories at the Carleton University Art Gallery.

[18] Houle's most prominent critique took the form of Kanata (1992), which used appropriation to highlight the fictional presence of indigenous combatants in West's work.

By quieting the majority of the canvas to sepia tone, the viewer's eye is drawn to the remaining color: the blanket surrounding the Delaware warrior in the case of Kanata.

[18] Despite the fact that the painting is a more dramatized version of Wolfe's death than reality, West's work was groundbreaking for art of its time.

[1] Wolfe's death and the portrayal of that event by Benjamin West make up half of Simon Schama's historical work Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations (1991).