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A model of the ship on which Admiral Nelson was fatally wounded will join his column in Trafalgar Square next year.
Turner prize nominee Yinka Shonibare's Nelson's Ship in A Bottle, a scale replica of HMS Victory in a giant acrylic bottle, will be placed on the fourth plinth from April next year until 2012.
The plinth is currently showing artwork by Antony Gormley, which involves 2,400 people occupying it for an hour each, 24 hours a day, for 100 days.
They will be followed by a statue of Battle of Britain hero Sir Keith Park, which will be displayed for six months, before the Victory takes its place.
The ship upon which Admiral Nelson died allegedly saying, "Thank God I have done my duty", is best known for its role in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, the single most important military victory in the nation's history since the stand-off with the Spanish Armada in Elizabethan times.
The ship's sails, which are made of patterned textiles commonly associated with Africa, were bought from Brixton market and aim to reflect London's multiculturalism, Shonibare said.
Robert Davis, Westminster council's deputy leader, said: "This artwork is particularly appropriate for Trafalgar Square and it is fitting that a replica of Nelson's ship should sit so close to the monument of the admiral."
The fourth plinth was originally created for an equestrian statue but because of insufficient funds it remained unused until 1999.
