Portrait of Lord Beresford | |
---|---|
Artist | William Beechey |
Year | 1814-15 |
Type | Oil on canvas, portrait |
Dimensions | 76.7 cm× 65 cm(30.2 in× 26 in) |
Location | National Portrait Gallery, London |
Portrait of Lord Beresford is an 1815 portrait painting by the English artist William Beechey of the British general William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford. [1] [2]
The sitter was born in 1768 as the illegitimate son of the Irish aristocrat George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford and therefore had links to many of the Anglo-Irish elite. Entering the British Army he became known for his service during the Napoleonic Wars. He was involved in the Egyptian Campaign and the failed expedition to Buenos Aires. He distinguished himself in the Peninsular War and was made Marshal of the Portuguese Army, serving under the Duke of Wellington. [3] In 1814 he was made Viscount Beresford.
Along with Thomas Lawrence and Martin Archer Shee, Beechey had emerged as one of Britain's leading portrait painters following the death of the President of the Royal Academy Joshua Reynolds. [4] He increasingly adapted his style to suit the fashion of the Regency era, dominated by Lawrence. Beresford sat for Beechey not long after the Treaty of Paris drove Napoleon into exile on Elba. Beresford is shown in the uniform of a Marshal of Portugal and wears the decorations of Peninsular Gold Cross as well as the British Order of the Bath and the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword. Today the painting is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery on Trafalgar Square. [5] A mezzotint print by Charles Turner based on Beechey's work is also in the Gallery's collection. [6]
Sir Thomas Lawrence was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At age ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At 18, he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1789. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.
Thomas Hope was a Dutch-British interior and Regency designer, traveler, author, philosopher, art collector, and partner in the banking firm Hope & Co. He is best known as an early promoter of Greek Revival architecture, opening his house as a museum and his novel Anastasius, a work which many experts considered a rival to the writings of Lord Byron.
General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A general in the British Army and a Marshal in the Portuguese Army, he fought alongside the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War and held the office of Master-General of the Ordnance in 1828 in the First Wellington ministry. He led the 1806 failed British invasion of Buenos Aires.
Sir William Beechey was a British portraitist during the golden age of British painting.
Baron Beresford is a title that was created three times for the Beresford family, one in the Peerage of Ireland and later also two in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In all instances it was created for men who were eminent politicians or soldiers. The first creation still exists as a subsidiary title, but the latter two became extinct at the death of their original holder.
In the Battle of Usagre on 25 May 1811, Anglo-Allied cavalry commanded by Major-General William Lumley routed a French cavalry force led by Major-General Marie Victor Latour-Maubourg at the village of Usagre, Spain, in the Peninsular War.
D. Miguel Pereira Forjaz Coutinho, 10th Count of Feira was a Portuguese general and War Secretary in the Peninsular War.
Marcus Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford, 7th Baron Decies, is an Anglo-Irish hereditary peer.
David Morier, was an Anglo-Swiss painter of portraits, military subjects and historical scenes around and after the time of the War of the Austrian Succession and the related Jacobite rising of 1745.
General Officers of World War I is an oil painting by John Singer Sargent, completed in 1922. It was commissioned by South African financier Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet to commemorate the generals who commanded British and British Empire armies in the First World War.
The Wellington Collection is a large art and militaria collection housed at Apsley House in London. It mainly consists of paintings, including 83 formerly in the Spanish royal collection, given to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who was Prime Minister as well as the general commanding the British forces to victory in the Napoleonic Wars. It also includes his collection of furniture, sculpture, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for him in Portugal around 1815, and many other artworks and memorabilia relating to his career.
Sir Charles Stewart is an 1812 portrait by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Irish soldier and diplomat Charles Stewart. Stewart was a career soldier who had served in the Peninsular War as Adjutant General to Allied commander Lord Wellington. Stewart had returned home from Portugal when he posed for the portrait and was subsequently appointed British Ambassador to Prussia, launching a diplomatic career that saw him play a key role in forming the alliance that defeated Napoleon and attending the Congress of Vienna. He is shown in hussar uniform, a branch of light cavalry that became prominent during the Napoleonic Wars. He wears his Peninsular Medal earned for his service over the past four years.
The Marquess of Wellesley is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Irish statesman Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley. Wellesley was a senior politician in Britain where he served as Foreign Secretary from 1809 to 1812 and was regarded as a potential future Prime Minister. Lawrence was the leading portraitist of the Regency era, depicting prominent figures from Britain and it's European Allies during the Napoleonic Wars. It is also known as the Portrait of Lord Wellesley.
Princess Charlotte is an 1817 portrait painting by the British artist George Dawe depicting Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of the Prince Regent.
Portrait of Henry Addington is an 1803 portrait painting by the English artist William Beechey depicting the then British prime minister Henry Addington.
Portrait of Sir John Moore is a portrait painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence of the Scottish army officer Sir John Moore, painted between 1800 and 1804.
Portrait of Lord Melbourne is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence portraying the British Whig politician and future Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. It is also known as the Portrait of William Lamb as he had not yet inherited the title from his father when it was painted. It is today in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Portrait of Sir Edward Pellew is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the British naval officer Sir Edward Pellew, produced around 1797.
Portrait of Lord Grenville is an 1800 portrait painting by the English artist John Hoppner. It depicts the British politician William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, later prime minister from 1806 to 1807.
Portrait of Harriet Mellon is a c.1815 portrait painting of the Irish actress Harriet Mellon by the English artist Sir William Beechey. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy's Annual Exhibition at Somerset House in 1818.