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William Thomas Lewis as Mercutio in 'Romeo and Juliet'

2 of 11 portraits by Gainsborough Dupont

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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William Thomas Lewis as Mercutio in 'Romeo and Juliet'

by Gainsborough Dupont
oil on canvas, feigned oval, 1794
28 7/8 in. x 25 in. (733 mm x 635 mm)
Purchased, 1977
Primary Collection
NPG 5148

On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Gainsborough Dupont (1754-1797), Painter and mezzotint engraver. Artist or producer associated with 11 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This is one of a series of portraits commissioned from Gainsborough Dupont in 1793-4 by Thomas Harris manager of Covent Garden Theatre. The series eventually comprised over twenty portraits of Covent Garden actors which hung at Belmont, Harris' house in Uxbridge Common.

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Events of 1794back to top

Current affairs

Treason Trials against John Horne Tooke, Thomas Hardy and John Thelwall take place amidst fears of domestic revolution. Their acquittal marks the most dramatic victory of the cause.
Leader of the Opposition, Charles James Fox's Libel Bill secures the landmark right of trial by jury for the accused.
Thomas Muir and the four other Scottish Martyrs who campaigned for parliamentary reform were transported to Australia for sedition.

Art and science

Edward Jenner discovers the smallpox inoculation after realising that those who worked with cattle and caught cowpox developed immunity.
Drury Lane Theatre re-opens under the management of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In competition with the Covent Garden Theatre it featured a new pit and boxes designed by architect Henry Holland.

International

Maximilien Robespierre, member of the French dictatorial Committee of Public Safety is arrested and executed as part of a conspiracy by enemies who disliked his anti-extremist stance and zeal for social reform.
Campaign in the Low Countries under the Duke of York. Allies are defeated and French reoccupy Brussels. British troops retreat to Holland.

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