Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
19 of 19 portraits by George Thomas Payne
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
by George Thomas Payne, published by Henry Graves & Co, published by John Finlay
mezzotint, published 20 November 1854
27 3/4 in. x 18 1/4 in. (706 mm x 465 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1951
Reference Collection
NPG D37609
Sitterback to top
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), Field Marshal and Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 640 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- John Finlay (active 1835-1849), Carver, gilder and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 2 portraits.
- Henry Graves & Co (active 1844-1899), Publishers. Artist or producer associated with 257 portraits.
- George Thomas Payne (active 1838-1855), Mezzotint engraver. Artist or producer associated with 19 portraits.
Placesback to top
- Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (6 Pall Mall, London; St Vincent Street, Glasgow)
Events of 1854back to top
Current affairs
The Working Men's College in London is founded by Frederick Maurice, who along with Charles Kingsley, a leading proponent of Christian Socialism, mocked by its opponents as 'muscular Christianity'. Christian Socialism attempted to combine the fundamental aims of socialism with the ethics of Christianity.William Howard Russell is sent to cover the Crimean war by his paper, The Times; his dispatches mark the start of modern war correspondence.
Art and science
The artist William Powell Frith paints his famous Ramsgate Sands, Life at the Seaside, an astute observation of modern leisure time.Dr John Snow, the founder of epidemiology, discovers that cholera is spread by water, rather than air, following the deaths of 500 people in ten days who had drank from a water pump in Broad Street. The Public Health Act is passed in response, setting up the General Board of Health.
International
Britain enters the Crimean war on 31 March, after an alliance is formed between Turkey, France, Sardinia and Britain against Russia. Florence Nightingale achieves great fame in introducing modern nursing techniques to the battlefield, earning her the title 'Lady with the Lamp'.Comments back to top
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