Portrait of the Duke of Leeds | |
---|---|
Artist | Thomas Lawrence |
Year | 1796 |
Type | Oil on canvas, portrait painting |
Dimensions | 220 cm× 142 cm(88 in× 55.9 in) |
Location | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
Portrait of the Duke of Leeds is a 1796 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence. It depicts the British politician Francis Osborne, Duke of Leeds who served as foreign secretary between 1783 and 1791 in the government of Pitt the Younger. [1]
It was begun in 1791 shortly after the Duke was awarded the Order of the Garter after his resignation from the Foreign Office, but took several years to complete. [2] The work was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in 1796. It helped revive the career of the young Lawrence who had recently received poor reviews after his earlier, breakthrough successes. Lawrence went on to become the leading portrait painter of the Regency era and in 1820 was elected as President of the Royal Academy
The portrait shows the Duke of Leeds at full length, with his Yorkshire property Hornby Castle in the background. He is dressed in the robes of the Order of the Garter. [3] Today the painting is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford having been acquired in 2014 through acceptance in lieu. [4]
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.
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Portrait of Lord Castlereagh is an 1809 portrait by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Irish politician Lord Castlereagh, then serving as the British Secretary of War. Lawrence had developed a reputation as a leading artist of society portraits, and was on friendly terms with the politician.
Caroline, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte is an 1801 portrait by the British artist Sir Thomas Lawrence depicting Caroline, Princess of Wales and her daughter Charlotte of Wales, then second in line to the throne after her father George, Prince of Wales who was the eldest son of George III. By this stage in their marriage Caroline and her husband were estranged and effectively separated.
Portrait of the Duke of Wellington is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Anglo-Irish soldier and politician the Duke of Wellington. It was begun in early 1815 following Wellington's success in the Peninsular War and shortly before his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and the subsequent allied occupation of France under Wellington's command. It is now in the collection of Apsley House, the Duke's London residence. Wellington is shown in military uniform displaying various honours including the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Order of the Bath. He has been described as "impassive and aloof" in the painting. Lawrence's depiction of Wellington was used on the British five pound note between 1971 and 1991.
Portrait of Charles X is an 1825 portrait painting by the British artist Sir Thomas Lawrence depicting the reigning French monarch Charles X. Following the French Revolution that saw his eldest brother overthrown and executed, Charles has spent many years in exile including a period in Britain. His brother Louis XVIII was restored to the throne with British assistance in 1814 and then again in 1815 following the Battle of Waterloo. Charles, as his heir, led the conservative Ultra-royalist faction in French politics. When his brother died in 1824 he succeeded to the throne. The last member of the House of Bourbon to reign, he had an elaborate coronation in Reims in May 1825. The same year Charles was painted in his coronation robes by the French artist Robert Lefèvre.
The Portrait of Marshal Blücher is an 1814 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.
Portrait of Lord Liverpool is a work by the English artist Thomas Lawrence depicting the British politician and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool.
The Portrait of Prince Metternich is a painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence of the Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich. Lawrence painted many European leaders involved in the alliance against Napoleon's French Empire.
The Portrait of Francis I of Austria is a painting by the British artist Sir Thomas Lawrence depicting the Austrian Emperor Francis I.
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.
Portrait of Benjamin West is an 1810 portrait painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence depicting the Anglo-American painter Benjamin West. Ten years later Lawrence succeeded West, on his death, as the President of the Royal Academy.
The Portrait of Prince Frederick, Duke of York, is a portrait painting of 1816 by the English artist Thomas Lawrence. It depicts Prince Frederick, Duke of York, the Commander in Chief of the British Army. A royal duke, he was the second son of George III and younger brother of the Prince Regent. From 1820 to his death in 1827 he was heir presumptive to the British throne.
Portrait of Lord Aberdeen is an 1830 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence depicting the Scottish aristocrat and politician George Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen. Aberdeen was then the British Foreign Secretary and later went on to serve as Prime Minister. As Foreign Secretary he followed in the tradition of Lord Castlereagh, one of Lawrence's frequent sitters. The work was commissioned by Aberdeen's colleague Robert Peel as part of a series of portraits of his fellow Tory politicians.
Portrait of Mirza Abul Hasan is an 1810 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence depicting Mirza Abolhassan Khan Ilchi, the Persian envoy to Britain.