Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Bt
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- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Bt
by Sir Thomas Lawrence
oil on canvas, circa 1793
98 1/2 in. x 56 1/2 in. (2502 mm x 1435 mm)
Bequeathed by William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts, 1952
Primary Collection
NPG 3820
Sitterback to top
- Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Bt (1770-1844), Parliamentary reformer. Sitter associated with 135 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), Portrait painter, collector and President of the Royal Academy. Artist or producer associated with 698 portraits, Sitter in 25 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Lawrence's portrait was begun in 1793, the year of Burdett's marriage to Sophia daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts. The 'Doomsday' book at the foot of the column and the sculpture of an early English king suggest Burdett's commitment to upholding Britain's ancient rights.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Smartify image discovery app
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 88
- Walker, Richard, Regency Portraits, 1985, p. 74
Events of 1793back to top
Current affairs
Whig MP Charles Grey enters a motion for parliamentary reform but is defeated in the House of Commons.Art and science
Radical philosopher William Godwin publishes Political Justice, an inflamatory document that promoted rational anarchism. This crystallised a wider feeling that a new era of world peace and progress was beginning.Sir William Beechey is appointed Portrait Painter to her Majesty, Queen Charlotte.
International
Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette are executed and the Reign of Terror begins.France declares war on Britain, Holland and then Spain. William Pitt addresses the House of Commons and Britain hesitantly joins the first coalition of anti-revolutionary European states to oppose the French threat.
Attack on Corsica in which Captain Horatio Nelson loses an eye.
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