Edmund Burke

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Edmund Burke

after James Barry
watercolour and bodycolour on ivory, 1774
2 1/2 in. x 2 in. (64 mm x 51 mm)
Purchased, 1891
Primary Collection
NPG 854

Sitterback to top

  • Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Statesman; orator; author. Sitter associated with 106 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • James Barry (1741-1806), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 9 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 78
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 90
  • Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 75 Read entry

    Burke never held high office of state but his speech 'On Conciliation with America' stands with the great classics of eloquence and became a considerable influence on the politics of the day, as did his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). James Boswell described Burke 'winding himself into his subject like a serpent' (James Boswell, The Life of Johnson, 10 May 1773). The original portrait by James Barry, painted in 1774 for Dr Brocklesby, has disappeared but there is a copy in the National Gallery of Ireland, and this miniature head and shouders at the National Portrait Gallery is a valuable corroborative.

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1774back to top

Current affairs

Philanthropist and reformer John Howard is called before the House of Commons Select Committee to give evidence on the shocking conditions in prisons across the country.
Young Tahitian Omai arrives in England after making contact with Captain James Cook on his second voyage. He is introduced into London Society by Joseph Banks and is much admired.
Coercive or 'Intolerable' Acts are passed in response to the crisis in the American colonies.

Art and science

Philosopher and chemist Joseph Priestley isolates oxygen in the form of a gas.
Artist Thomas Gainsborough moves from Bath to set up a studio in London.
Royal Crescent, Bath, designed by John Wood the Younger, is completed.
Methodist preacher John Wesley publishes his pamphlet Thoughts Upon Slavery which argues against slavery.

International

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe publishes his romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, bringing him an immediate European reputation.
In retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, the port of Boston is closed under the first of the British government's Coercive Acts. Delegates from twelve American colonies meet in Philadelphia and agree not to import any goods from Britain.
Death of Louis XV of France. Louis XVI succeeds.

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