Francesco Bartolozzi

Inscriptionback to top

Stretcher marked June 24.50 and 2=111 (not Christie’s, 24 June 1850, lot 111).

This portraitback to top

NPG 222, a vigorous, broadly-brushed portrait, was acquired in 1866 as by Opie and the attribution has remained unquestioned. Both Earland and Rogers mistakenly stated that ‘a large mezzotint’ had been made from it. [1] The head resembles that painted by Pellegrini in 1795.

Footnotesback to top

1) J. J. Rogers, John Opie and his Works, 1878, pp.70-71; A. Earland, Opie and his Circle, 1911, p.262. Repeated in the Arts Council exhibition cat., 1962.

Physical descriptionback to top

Brown eyes, white powdered wig; wearing a red scarf, white neckcloth, black coat and dark grey waistcoat, holding a porte-crayon in his right hand; a red curtain behind him.

Provenanceback to top

‘Bromley the engraver’;¹ bought from Adamson of Bedford Street, London, by G. P. Everett Green and presented by him 1866.

¹ Note made by Scharf in 1866: ‘from the collection of Bromley the engraver bought by Mr Green through Adamson, a print-seller of Bedford Street’ (NPG archive). ‘Bromley the engraver’ could have been James Bromley (d. 1838), J. C. Bromley (d. 1839) or William Bromley (d. 1842).

Exhibitionsback to top

Opie, Arts Council, 1962-63 (34).


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

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