The Death of the Earl of Chatham

1 portrait of John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave

Tate 2010; on loan to the National Portrait Gallery, London

by John Singleton Copley
oil on canvas, 1779-1781
90 in. x 121 in. (2286 mm x 3073 mm)
Lent by Tate Gallery, 1968
Primary Collection
NPG L146

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Artistback to top

John Singleton Copley (1737-1815), Painter. Artist associated with 21 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.

Sittersback to top

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717-1797), Field Marshal. Sitter in 6 portraits.
Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (1756-1779), Politician. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst (1714-1794), Lord Chancellor. Sitter in 6 portraits.
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough (1704-1793), Politician. Sitter in 2 portraits.
Richard Brocklesby (1722-1797), Physician. Sitter in 3 portraits.
John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute (1744-1814), Diplomat and collector. Sitter associated with 12 portraits.
John Jeffreys Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden (1759-1840), Politician. Sitter associated with 10 portraits.
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 32 portraits, Artist associated with 1 portrait.
John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (1756-1835), General. Sitter in 6 portraits.
George James Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley (1749-1827), Chamberlain to the Prince of Wales. Sitter associated with 15 portraits.
William Courtenay, 2nd Viscount Courtenay (1742-1788), Politician. Sitter in 1 portrait.
George William Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry (1722-1809), Politician. Sitter associated with 2 portraits.
William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801), Lord Privy Seal. Sitter in 2 portraits.
William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (1748-1811), Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. Sitter in 7 portraits.
John Ward, 2nd Viscount Dudley and Ward (1725-1788), Politician. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham (1746-1791), Politician. Sitter in 4 portraits.
Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton (1726-1796), General and politician. Sitter in 3 portraits.
Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl of Fauconberg (1743-1802), Politician. Sitter in 2 portraits.
Robert Shirley, 6th Earl Ferrers (1723-1787), Politician. Sitter in 1 portrait.
William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam (1748-1833), Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Sitter in 12 portraits.
Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (1745-1790), Brother of George III. Sitter associated with 5 portraits.
Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon (1743-1827), Representative peer. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1732-1792), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 63 portraits.
George Simon Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt (1736-1809), Politician. Sitter in 7 portraits.
John Hinchliffe (1731-1794), Bishop of Peterborough. Sitter in 4 portraits.
George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey (1735-1805), Courtier. Sitter in 5 portraits.
William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (1737-1805), Prime Minister and patron of the arts. Sitter associated with 63 portraits.
William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster (1749-1804), Politician. Sitter associated with 4 portraits.
William Henry Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton (1724-1808), Barrister and politician. Sitter in 1 portrait.
George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester (1737-1788), Politician. Sitter in 3 portraits.
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793), Judge. Sitter in 15 portraits.
William Markham (1719-1807), Archbishop of York; Headmaster of Westminster School. Sitter in 10 portraits.
George Brudenell Montagu, Duke of Montagu (1712-1790), Courtier. Sitter in 2 portraits.
George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1720-1795), Naval lieutenant and politician. Sitter in 7 portraits.
Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1764-1839), Writer on opera. Sitter in 8 portraits.
George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow (1731-1814), Politician. Sitter in 2 portraits.
James Charles Pitt (1761-1781), Naval captain; third son of 1st Earl of Chatham. Sitter in 1 portrait.
William Pitt (1759-1806), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 167 portraits.
William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 30 portraits.
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1750-1828), Politician. Sitter in 5 portraits.
Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox (1735-1806), Soldier, diplomat and politician. Sitter in 26 portraits.
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730-1782), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 13 portraits.
Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn (Lord Loughborough) (1733-1805), Lord Chancellor. Sitter associated with 32 portraits.
George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville (1716-1785), Soldier and statesman. Sitter associated with 17 portraits.
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), First Lord of the Admiralty. Sitter associated with 24 portraits.
Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726-1804), Politician; art collector. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Jonathan Shipley (1714-1788), Bishop of St Asaph. Sitter in 6 portraits.
Sir John Skynner (1724?-1805), Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer (1734-1783), Politician. Sitter in 2 portraits.
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford (1721-1803), Politician. Sitter in 5 portraits.
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope (1753-1816), Politician and scientist. Sitter associated with 45 portraits.
Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple (1711-1779), Statesman. Sitter in 15 portraits.
Edward Thurlow, Baron Thurlow (1731-1806), Lord Chancellor. Sitter in 36 portraits.
John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave (1718-1784), Politician. Sitter in 1 portrait.
John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland (1759-1841), Politician. Sitter associated with 14 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The painting represents the collapse of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords on 7 April 1778 after speaking for every measure in favour of the British colonists in America short of actual independence. Chatham died a month later. The fallen earl is surrounded by his three sons and his son-in-law, Lord Mahon, and is supported by the Dukes of Cumberland and Portland. The Duke of Richmond, who has just finished speaking, stands nearby. Lord Camden described the scene in a letter to the Duke of Grafton: 'He fell back upon his seat, and was to all appearance in the agonies of death. This threw the whole House into confusion .... even those who might have felt a secret pleasure at the accident, yet put on the appearance of distress, except only the Earl of Mansfield, who sat still, almost as much unmoved as the senseless body itself'.