The Duke of Wellington Describing the Field of Waterloo to George IV | |
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Artist | Benjamin Robert Haydon |
Year | 1840 |
Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
Dimensions | 146 cm× 175 cm(57 in× 69 in) |
Location | Wellington Collection, Stratfield Saye |
The Duke of Wellington Describing the Field of Waterloo to George IV is an 1840 history painting by the British artist Benjamin Robert Haydon. [1] [2] It depicts a scene in 1821 when George IV was escorted around the site of the Battle of Waterloo, six years after it was fought, by the victorious Allied commander the Duke of Wellington. Haydon had visited the battlefield himself in 1839. [3]
George IV was in Belgium, at the time part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, on his was to his state visit to Hanover. He was accompanied on some of the journey by Wellington, now a Tory politician. Wellington is shown mounted on Copenhagen. On the left of the pictures are the Gordon Monument and Hanoverian Monument. [4]
The work was commissioned by Francis Bennoch and Richard Twentyman, two friends of Haydon's from the City of London. [5] It was exhibited at the British Institution in 1845. Versions exist in both the Wellington Collection at Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire and at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. [6]
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was an Anglo-Irish military officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, serving twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is among the commanders who ended the Anglo-Mysore Wars when Tipu Sultan was killed in the fourth war in 1799 and among those who ended the Napoleonic Wars in a victory when the Seventh Coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Benjamin Robert Haydon was a British painter who specialised in grand historical pictures, although he also painted a few contemporary subjects and portraits. His commercial success was damaged by his often tactless dealings with patrons, and by the enormous scale on which he preferred to work. He was troubled by financial problems throughout his life, which led to several periods of imprisonment for debt. He died by suicide in 1846.
Duke of Wellington is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The name derived from Wellington in Somerset. The title was created in 1814 for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington, the Anglo-Irish military commander who is best known for leading the decisive victory with Field Marshal von Blücher over Napoleon's forces at Waterloo in Brabant. Wellesley later served twice as British prime minister. In historical texts, unqualified use of the title typically refers to the 1st Duke.
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Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member of parliament for Carnarvon and then for Milborne Port, he took part in the Flanders Campaign and then commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore's army in Spain during the Peninsular War; his cavalry showed distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the Battle of Sahagún and at the Battle of Benavente, where he defeated the elite chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard. During the Hundred Days he led the charge of the heavy cavalry against Comte d'Erlon's column at the Battle of Waterloo. At the end of the battle, he lost part of one leg to a cannonball. In later life, he served twice as Master-General of the Ordnance and twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
Lieutenant-General Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington,, styled Lord Douro between 1812 and 1814 and Marquess of Douro between 1814 and 1852, was a British soldier and politician. The eldest son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo and Prime Minister, he succeeded his father in the dukedom in 1852 and held minor political office as Master of the Horse from 1853 to 1858. In 1858, he was made a Knight of the Garter.
Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington,, styled Lord Arthur Wellesley from 1884 to 1900, was a British peer and politician, and a member of the well-known Wellesley family. He joined the military and served in the Household Division. Upon his childless brother's death in 1900, he inherited the family title and estates.
Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852) was an English architect, part of the Wyatt family.
The Wellington Monument is a 175-foot-high (53 m) triangular obelisk located on a point of the Blackdown Hills, 3 km south of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. It is a grade II* listed building and is the tallest three-sided obelisk in the world.
The Wellington Monument is a statue representing Achilles erected as a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and his victories in the Peninsular War and the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars. It is sited at the south-western end of Park Lane in London, and was inaugurated on 18 June 1822. Its total height, including the sculpture, base and the mound on which it stands, is 36 ft.
George John Thicknesse-Touchet, 20th Baron Audley was a British peer.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,, was one of the leading British military and political figures of the 19th century. Often referred to solely as "The Duke of Wellington", he led a successful military career in the Indian subcontinent during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–99) and the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), and in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
Brigadier Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington,, styled Marquess of Douro between 1943 and 1972, was a senior British peer and a brigadier in the British Army. His main residence was Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire.
The equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington is an outdoor sculpture of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, a British soldier and statesman, located at the Royal Exchange in London. It overlooks Bank junction in the historic City of London. The sculptor was Francis Leggatt Chantrey. The statue commemorates Wellington's assistance to the City of London in ensuring that a bill was passed to allow the rebuilding of London Bridge.
John Robert Hume (c.1781–1857) was a Scottish surgeon and physician. He is cited as an example of a 19th-century medical career that arrived at a high position in the profession, without early qualifications.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, died on 14 September 1852, aged 83. He was the commander of British forces and their allies in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, which finally ended the Napoleonic Wars, and served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Although Wellington's political career had led to his unpopularity because of his opposition to the Great Reform Act, in old age it was his military career which was remembered and he was revered as a national hero. His state funeral on 18 November at St Paul's Cathedral in London was the grandest of any in Britain during the 19th century.
The Mock Election is an 1827 genre painting by the British artist Benjamin Robert Haydon. It was inspired by a real-life event that took place while Haydon was himself imprisoned at the King's Bench Prison in Southwark for debt.
The Reform Banquet is a history painting by the English artist Benjamin Robert Haydon. Completed and first exhibited in 1834 it represents a scene on 11 July 1832 when supporters of the recent Reform Act including the Prime Minister Earl Grey and other government ministers met for a celebratory dinner at the Guildhall in the City of London. Comparisons have been drawn between this work and George Hayter's The House of Commons, 1833 which were both large-scale depictions related to the recent Reform Act.
Portrait of Henry Brougham is an 1825 portrait painting by the English artist Sir Thomas Lawrence depicting the British politician and lawyer Henry Brougham.