George Whitefield
1 portrait on display in Room 11 at the National Portrait Gallery
George Whitefield
by John Wollaston
oil on canvas, circa 1742
32 5/8 in. x 26 in. (829 mm x 660 mm)
Purchased, 1861
Primary Collection
NPG 131
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George Whitefield, the Methodist evangelist, was a preacher of great fervour who had a wide following in Wales and Scotland as well as in America. His views were more Calvinistic than John Wesley's, from whom he broke in 1741. He established an orphanage in Georgia in 1738, and opened the Moorfields Tabernacle in 1741 and the Chapel in Tottenham Court Road in 1756. In this portrait Whitefield is shown preaching to a congregation; his squint was the result of measles in childhood. The mesmerized woman in the front row is said to be Mrs James, of Abergavenny, whom Whitefield married in 1741.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Kerslake, John, Early Georgian Portraits, 1977, p. 305
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 658
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On display in Room 11 at the National Portrait Gallery
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