Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
1 of 73 portraits by Robert Edge Pine
- Overview
- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
by Robert Edge Pine
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1774
29 1/4 in. x 24 1/2 in. (743 mm x 622 mm)
Purchased, 1904
Primary Collection
NPG 1357
Sitterback to top
- Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge) (1731-1791), Historian and political polemicist. Sitter in 17 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Robert Edge Pine (1730-1788), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 73 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This portrait shows Macaulay dressed as a Roman matron, reflecting her belief that the ancient Roman republic was the example to which England should aspire.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 323
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 397
Events of 1774back to top
Current affairs
Philanthropist and reformer John Howard is called before the House of Commons Select Committee to give evidence on the shocking conditions in prisons across the country.Young Tahitian Omai arrives in England after making contact with Captain James Cook on his second voyage. He is introduced into London Society by Joseph Banks and is much admired.
Coercive or 'Intolerable' Acts are passed in response to the crisis in the American colonies.
Art and science
Philosopher and chemist Joseph Priestley isolates oxygen in the form of a gas.Artist Thomas Gainsborough moves from Bath to set up a studio in London.
Royal Crescent, Bath, designed by John Wood the Younger, is completed.
Methodist preacher John Wesley publishes his pamphlet Thoughts Upon Slavery which argues against slavery.
International
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe publishes his romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, bringing him an immediate European reputation.In retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, the port of Boston is closed under the first of the British government's Coercive Acts. Delegates from twelve American colonies meet in Philadelphia and agree not to import any goods from Britain.
Death of Louis XV of France. Louis XVI succeeds.
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