Elizabeth Gaskell
- Overview
- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Elizabeth Gaskell
by George Richmond
chalk, 1851
24 1/4 in. x 18 3/4 in. (616 mm x 476 mm)
Bequeathed by the sitter's daughter, Margaret Emily Gaskell, 1913
Primary Collection
NPG 1720
Sitterback to top
- Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (née Stevenson) (1810-1865), Novelist, short-story writer and biographer of Charlotte Brontë. Sitter in 4 portraits.
Artistback to top
- George Richmond (1809-1896), Portrait painter and draughtsman; son of Thomas Richmond. Artist or producer associated with 337 portraits, Sitter in 14 portraits.
This portraitback to top
George Richmond was a leading portraitist, who made simple, but fine, chalk portraits of many celebrities of the day. Gaskell sat for her portrait while in London to see the Great Exhibition of 1851. She believed it to be a good likeness, noting in a letter 'I think it is like me; I hope Papa will think so but I am almost doubtful.'
Linked publicationsback to top
- Alexander, Christine (Christine Anne), Celebrating Charlotte Brontë : transforming life into literature in Jane Eyre, 2016, p. 184
- Lucinda Hawksley, Charles Dickens and his Circle, 2016, p. 81
- Ormond, Richard, Early Victorian Portraits, 1973, p. 184
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 239
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Celebrating Charlotte Brontë (22 February 2016 - 14 August 2016)
- Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Brontë (7 September 2010 - 25 April 2011)
Events of 1851back to top
Current affairs
A population census is taken of all the people living in Britain, recording details about every householder on the night of March 30. This census greatly extends the fields of the 1841 census, being the first to record full details of individuals' birth locations, exact age, marital status, and details of disability, thus making it a valuable tool for demographers and genealogists. The census was made open for public inspection in 1912.Art and science
The Great Exhibition is held in London,at the Crystal Palace, especially designed by Sir Joseph Paxton. The international exhibition was designed to showcase the best in science, art and industry. it attracted millions of visitors.Lizzie Siddal poses for John Millais's painting Ophelia.
Hermann von Helmotz invents the ophthalmoscope, making it possible for doctors to examine within a patient's eye.
International
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, President of the French Republic, stages a coup d'état, successfully dissolving the French National Assembly without having the constitutional right to do so. Now the sole ruler of France, he re-establishes universal suffrage, previously abolished by the Assembly and becomes 'Napoléon III, Emperor of the French'.Comments back to top
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