Artist & Evangelist: Lives Remembered
Past display archive
14 August 2012 - 24 March 2013
Room 28: case display
Free
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
by Elliott & Fry
circa 1876
NPG x134824
William Booth
by Elliott & Fry
1884
NPG x127412
A painter of classical subjects, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was one of the most successful artists of the late Victorian period. Born in Friesland in the Netherlands, he moved to Antwerp, aged sixteen, to pursue a formal art education. After working in the studios of Louis Jan de Taeye and Baron Henry Leys, Alma-Tadema established himself independently and in 1864, gained a significant commission of twenty-four pictures from the influential art dealer Ernest Gambart. Gambart immediately began displaying Alma-Tadema’s work in London, so that when he moved to England in 1870, his work was already known. Although successful on the continent, Alma-Tadema remained in London for the rest of his life, where he further prospered financially and socially. An excellent businessman, Alma-Tadema also became known for his designs for furniture, interiors and the theatre. Although admired during his lifetime, his reputation waned after his death. His contribution to the history of British art has since been re-evaluated and his legacy revived.
William Booth was born in Nottingham where he experienced directly the consequences of poverty. As an adolescent, Booth abandoned the Church of England and converted to Wesleyan Methodism, inspired by the American revivalist preachers. He began preaching in the streets, exhibiting the principle of active Christianity that defined his lifelong work. In 1849, Booth moved to London, working as an itinerant preacher and building a reputation with his powerful oratory. Here, he met the like-minded Catherine Mumford (1829–90) who strongly influenced the direction of his career, particularly in the Salvation Army’s progressive views towards female preachers. They married in 1855 and almost all of their eight children became involved in the Army’s work. From these beginnings, Booth grew to be one of the Victorian era’s greatest revivalist preachers and social reformers, emphasising physical regeneration through social welfare as essential to spiritual salvation. Although opposed by the conservatism of the age, his conviction and determination ensured that the Salvation Army grew and survived as an international organisation and one of the greatest providers of humanitarian aid.
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Related resources
Related portraits
- William Booth (NPG 2383)
- Selecting Committee, Royal Academy, circa 1892 (NPG 4245)
- The St John's Wood Arts Club, 1895 (NPG 4404)
- Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (NPG 3946)
- Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (NPG x134824)
- William Booth (NPG x127412)
- William Thomas Stead (NPG x24954)
- Thomas Henry Huxley (NPG x11999)
- William Booth (NPG x87427)
- The Alma-Tadema Banquet (NPG x19022)
- Laura Theresa (née Epps), Lady Alma-Tadema; Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (NPG x47)
- William Booth (NPG x1538)
- Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (NPG D42460)
- William Booth (NPG D9642)
Related sitters
- Laura Theresa (née Epps), Lady Alma-Tadema
- Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
- Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
- William Booth
- George Henry Boughton
- Sir Thomas Brock
- John Bagnold Burgess
- Joseph William Comyns Carr
- Sir George Clausen
- John Collier
- Walter Crane
- Sir Francis Bernard ('Frank') Dicksee
- Sir Alfred Edward East
- Sir Frederick Alexis Eaton
- (Edward) Onslow Ford
- Sir George James Frampton
- William Temple Franks
- Frederic Leighton, Baron Leighton
- Edward John Gregory
- Arthur Hacker
- Sir George Henschel (Isidor Georg Henschel)
- James Clarke Hook
- Arthur Hopkins
- John Callcott Horsley
- Colin Hunter
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- Sir James John Trevor Lawrence, 2nd Bt
- Benjamin Williams Leader (né Benjamin Williams)
- (Wilhelm Augustus) Rudolf Lehmann
- Sir George Henry Lewis, 1st Bt
- John Seymour Lucas
- John Alexander Fuller Maitland
- Henry Stacy Marks
- Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt
- Francis Davis Millet
- Antonio Fernando de Navarro
- Sir William Quiller Orchardson
- Alfred William Parsons
- John Pettie
- Briton Riviere
- Walter Dendy Sadler
- James Sant
- John Singer Sargent
- (John) Byam Liston Shaw
- Solomon Joseph Solomon
- Marion Harry Spielmann
- William Thomas Stead
- Sir Henry Thompson
- Sir (William) Hamo Thornycroft
- Charles Francis Annesley Voysey
- Sir Aston Webb