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James Cook

1 of 5 portraits by John Webber

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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James Cook

by John Webber
oil on canvas, feigned oval, November 1776
17 3/8 in. x 13 7/8 in. (440 mm x 354 mm) overall
Purchased, 1858
Primary Collection
NPG 26

On display in Room 10 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

  • James Cook (1728-1779), Circumnavigator. Sitter associated with 15 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • John Webber (1751-1793), Landscape painter and draughtsman on Cook's third voyage. Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

This portrait was painted by the official artist to Cook's last voyage, John Webber, who was primarily a topographical painter and shows Cook in his uniform as a naval captain.

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1776back to top

Current affairs

Tahitian visitor to London Omai returns home with Captain James Cook on his third voyage. During his two-year stay he inspired a play and was painted by Joshua Reynolds.
Member of Parliament David Hartley unsuccessfully introduces a motion to the House of Commons calling for the abolition of the slave trade.

Art and science

Edward Gibbon produces the first volume of his monumental The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Artist John Constable is born.
Scottish economist Adam Smith analyses the nature and causes of prosperity in his magnum opus The Wealth of Nations.

International

American War of Independence: George Washington raises a new American flag on Prospect Hill, Boston. In an anonymous pamphlet entitled Common Sense, English immigrant Thomas Paine is the first to argue that the American colonies should be independent. Declaration of American Independence on 4 July.

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