Magnus Musson was a man of the sea. He is fondly remembered on the island as captain of the RMS Queen of Bermuda, Furness Bermuda Line’s glamorous ocean liner. His prodigious life as an artist, model maker and writer are celebrated in an exhibit that follows a recent Queen of Bermuda show at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

The range and depth of Captain Musson’s talents — as the show asserts — made him a true Renaissance man.

He was born in 1917 in the English market town of Louth, to a family that had some Bermudian heritage.

His accomplishments are even more remarkable considering that he left school, aged 12, for a life on the ocean.

The self-taught artist’s fine technique — evident in the exhibit’s 20 watercolour marine paintings as well as pen and ink, and graphite, work — was honed through hours spent at sea.

Captain Musson’s portentous painting the Sea Venture is one the most emblematic depictions of the stricken ship in the tempestuous storm that marked Bermuda’s founding in 1609.

The paintings are part of the museum’s permanent collection and this exhibit offers a chance to view them together.

Perhaps lesser known is that Captain Musson, who was known simply as “Muss”, wrote and had a keen storytelling ability.

His writing was originally intended as informative and entertaining; personal guides for friends visiting his beloved London became published prose as Muss’s Little Tours, complete with fun illustrations.

A 1965 edition of the book is displayed and a page gives a flavour of his witty writing style in a colourful vignette.

He implores his American visitors to the capital to obtain tickets for the famous annual Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.

Positing that the conductor would be the famed Sir Malcolm Sargent, he assures them that at a cost of 2 shillings and sixpence (or 35 cents) — the then price of the Staten Island ferry — it was value for money. Captain Musson reveals that service at sea ran in the family: his father had shrapnel injuries caused by a German submarine shell sustained in the First World War.

The captain used his thorough knowledge of ships to create superbly executed models complete with working details; an intricately detailed wooden model boat is also exhibited.

Captain Musson continued to serve at sea after Furness Withy, including as master of the Shaw Savill Line’s Illyric whose homeports were in New Zealand.

Latter years prior to his death in 1991 were spent notably as deputy master at the historic London institution Trinity House, in keeping with his seafaring heritage and important work contributing to the upkeep of Lewes Castle in England.

Among the ephemera in the show is a miniature pocket sketchbook belonging to Captain Musson and a black and white photograph of him surrounded by crew on the bridge of an unnamed vessel. The items have immediacy in the exhibition of an extraordinary life fashioned by the sea.

The show runs until January 3.