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Thomas Otway

1 of 9 portraits of Thomas Otway

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Thomas Otway

by Jacobus Houbraken, after Mary Beale
line engraving, published 1741
6 in. x 6 in. (153 mm x 153 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D30158

Sitterback to top

  • Thomas Otway (1652-1685), Dramatist. Sitter in 9 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Mary Beale (1633-1699), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 53 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
  • Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 435 portraits.

Events of 1741back to top

Current affairs

Motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Robert Walpole is followed by a general election. Walpole's majority is reduced to less than twenty and he suffers defeat in seven divisions.
Opening of the Foundling Hospital, London, to aid homeless and abandoned children.

Art and science

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is appointed head gardener at Stowe, where he works with the architect William Kent.
Actor David Garrick makes his debut on the London stage in Richard III.
Henry Fielding publishes An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews satirising Samuel Richardson's best-selling novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded.

International

War of the Austrian Succession: Admiral Edward Vernon leads an unsuccessful attack on Spanish stronghold of Cartagena. Frederick II's Prussian army defeats the Austrians at Mollwitz, securing his hold on most of Silesia. French and Bavarian forces enter Prague.
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach publishes his set of Goldberg Variations, supposedly written for performance by the young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.

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