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Alfred, Lord Tennyson

(1809-1892), Poet Laureate

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 97 portraits
Born in Lincolnshire, Tennyson studied in Louth before attending Trinity College, Cambridge. His early life and poetry were greatly affected by the unexpected death of his friend Arthur Hallam, his elegy to whom, In Memoriam, secured his fame. Tennyson was Britain's longest-serving Poet Laureate and the most popular poet of his age. On being awarded a barony by Queen Victoria in 1883, he became the first British writer to be raised to the Peerage. Tennyson's poetry is celebrated for its lyricism and psychological intensity. His Arthurian poems such as The Lady of Shalott (1832) and Idylls of the King (1859) inspired Pre-Raphaelite artists, while those in dialect retain the language of his Lincolnshire youth.

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Alfred, Lord Tennyson, by Mary Grant, after  Thomas Woolner - NPG 947

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by Mary Grant, after Thomas Woolner
marble bust, 1893, based on a work of 1857
NPG 947

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, by George Frederic Watts - NPG 1015

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by George Frederic Watts
oil on canvas, circa 1863-1864
On display in Room 22 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1015

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, by M. Arnault, after a photograph by  John Jabez Edwin Mayall - NPG 970

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by M. Arnault, after a photograph by John Jabez Edwin Mayall
chalk, late 19th century, based on a work of 1864
NPG 970

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, by Julia Margaret Cameron - NPG P9

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by Julia Margaret Cameron
albumen print, 3 June 1869
NPG P9

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, by William Henry Margetson, after a photograph by  Herbert Rose Barraud - NPG 4343

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by William Henry Margetson, after a photograph by Herbert Rose Barraud
watercolour, 1891, based on a work of 1882
NPG 4343

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published by T. Fisher Unwin, after  George Frederic Watts - NPG Ax199209

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

published by T. Fisher Unwin, after George Frederic Watts
photogravure, published 1893 (1859)
NPG Ax199209

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, after James Mudd - NPG Ax18237

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

after James Mudd
albumen carte-de-visite, (1861)
NPG Ax18237

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