Portrait of Lord Castlereagh
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.[1] Lawrence had developed a reputation as a leading artist of society portraits, and was on friendly terms with the politician.
| Lord Castlereagh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Thomas Lawrence |
| Year | 1809 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, portrait |
| Location | National Portrait Gallery, London |
The portrait was displayed at the Royal Academy summer exhibition of 1810 along with three other Lawrence works. Despite receiving praise from many quarters, Castlereagh's painting received a damning critique by Peter Finnerty, an opponent of the Irishman, in the Morning Chronicle.[2]
The same year that the work was painted, Castlereagh oversaw the failed Walcheren Expedition during the Napoleonic Wars. In the wake of this, he resigned and fought a duel with his cabinet colleague George Canning.[3] After three years out of government, he returned as Foreign Secretary in 1812 and served for a decade, participating in the defeat of Napoleon and the creation of the post-war Congress System. Another painting of him by Lawrence was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814.[4]
Today the painting is on display in the National Portrait Gallery in London, having been purchased for the collection in 1892.[5]
References
- Hunt p. viii
- Timbs p.298
- Davey p.203
- Timbs p.298
- https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw03985/Robert-Stewart-2nd-Marquess-of-Londonderry-Lord-Castlereagh?LinkID=mp02782&search=sas&sText=Castlereagh&role=sit&rNo=1
Bibliography
- Davey, James. In Nelson's Wake: The Navy and the Napoleonic Wars. Yale University Press, 2016.
- Hunt, Giles. The Duel: Castlereagh, Canning and Deadly Cabinet Rivalry. Bloomsbury Academic, 2008.
- Timbs, John. Anecdote Biography. William Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Henry Fuseli, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and J. M. W. Turner. Richard Bentley, 1860.