5 OF 34

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

5 of 34 portraits on display in Room 20 at the National Portrait Gallery

by Sir Thomas Lawrence
oil on canvas, 1790-1800
50 in. x 40 in. (1270 mm x 1016 mm)
Accepted in lieu of tax by H.M. Government and allocated to the Gallery, 1994
Primary Collection
NPG 6307

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Sitterback to top

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 48 portraits.

Artistback to top

Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), Portrait painter, collector and President of the Royal Academy. Artist associated with 682 portraits, Sitter in 25 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Lawrence's portrait depicts the rising statesman next to a bas-relief of his hero, Demosthenes, the great Athenian orator. The image was engraved in 1801 when he was Foreign Secretary about to negotiate the Peace of Amiens (1802). Succeeding his father as Lord Liverpool in 1808, he strengthened the British economy and encouraged the liberal policies of Canning, Huskisson and Peel. But he was also notorious for passing the Six Acts (1819), a series of unpopular 'gagging acts' which limited personal freedom and controlled the chance of radical uprising.

Related worksback to top

NPG D35205: Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (source portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

Essay by Richard Holmes, Thomas Lawrence Portraits, 2010 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 21 October 2010 - 23 January 2011), p. 35
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 384