Regency Portraits Catalogue
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859), Poet, essayist and critic
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
A list of 15 portraits and where they have been reproduced before 1903 is given in Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 2 vols., ed. Roger Ingpen, 1903, Appendix VI. Russell's essay in the Keats-Shelley Bulletin, 1959 is an excellent record of family tradition.
1791
Miniature by an unknown artist in the Ashmolean Museum.
1801
Miniature by Robert Bowyer engraved in line by Parkes for Juvenilia, 1802 is reproduced in Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 2 vols., ed. Roger Ingpen, 1903, p 80.
c.1805
Drawing by Bennett engraved in stipple by Freeman.
c.1810
Drawing by Jackson engraved in stipple by Freeman for The Monthly Mirror, 1 May 1810 and described by Thornton Hunt as having 'an air of heavy laziness said to have characterised the artist but certainly foreign to the sitter' (introduction to Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, ed. Roger Ingpen, 1903).
Miniature on ivory by C. J. Robertson at Christie's 22 June 1872 (117), half-length seated as a young man reading The Faerie Queen (pencil sketch by Scharf in NPG copy of catalogue).
c.1811
Oil by Haydon (NPG 293).
1815
Drawing by Wageman (NPG 4505).
1818
Chalk drawing by Wildman, location unknown but described by Mrs Leigh Hunt as 'large as life ... one of the most astonishing likenesses that was ever seen; you would almost think it was going to speak to you; and the execution as a drawing equals the likeness' (Correspondence, 1862, I, p 120). Leigh Hunt sent a copy to Shelley who wrote in answer, 'My Dear Friend, At length has arrived Ollier's parcel and with it the portrait. What a delightful present! it is almost yourself and we sate talking with it and of it all the evening … It is a great pleasure to us to possess it, a pleasure in time of need; coming to us when there are few others. How we wish it were you and not your picture! how I wish we were with you' (Shelley to Hunt, Livorno, 3 September 1819).
1820
Miniature (unfinished) by Severn engraved in stipple by J. C. Armytage for Men, Women and Books, 1847 and reproduced in Edmund Blunden, Leigh Hunt, 1930, frontispiece.
c.1827
Miniature by Mrs Mee in private collection New York, perhaps that exhibited RA 1827 (861) as 'Portrait of a Gentleman'.
c.1828
Drawing by J. Hayter engraved in stipple by Meyer for Byron and his Contemporaries, 1828 - known in the family as 'the hangman' Richard Russell, 'The Portraiture of Leigh Hunt' in Keats-Shelley Memorial Bulletin, X, 1959, p 8).
1834
Pencil drawing by Maclise in V&A Museum (Forster 88), whole-length seated to left signed Leigh Hunt; another Maclise drawing, whole-length leaning against a doorway holding top-hat and gloves, was reproduced in Fraser's Magazine, June 1834; a wash drawing of this is in the NPG Reference Collection (MacDonnell, Dictionary of National Biography, XXVIII, p 268).
1838
Portraits by Laurence and Gillies (NPG 2508 and 1267).
1841
Woodcut by Mrs Gliddon reproduced in A Tale for a Chimney Corner, 1869; Leigh Hunt's daughter Mary married John Gliddon.
1850
Lithograph by G. H. Ford, head and shoulders facing with black spectacle ribbon, reproduced in Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 1850 edition, III, frontispiece.
1851
Chalk drawing by W. F. Williams, head and shoulders to right in large bow-tie, engraved in stipple by Armytage for Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 1860 edition and lent to Third Exhibition of National Portraits, South Kensington, 1868 (606) by W. S. Williams.
1869
Memorial bust by Joseph Durham is in the Town Hall, Chelsea, and another in Kensal Green Cemetery (Art Journal, 1869, p 376, and Illustrated London News, 23 October 1869, Supplement).
Undated
Silhouette by Marianne Hunt, whole-length seated at a table writing, reproduced in Edmund Blunden, Leigh Hunt, 1930, p 328. An oil attributed to Marianne Hunt but of doubtful identity was at Christie's (South Kensington) 15 October 5980 (189).
Drawing from memory by Thornton Hunt, reproduced in E. V. Lucas, Charles Lamb, 1905, II, p 232.
Etching by W. B. Scott, group by fireside with G. H. Lewes, Vincent Hunt and Scott himself, reproduced Edmund Blunden, Leigh Hunt, 1930, p 276.
Oil in Christ's Hospital, head and shoulders as a young man with luxuriant dark hair.
A miniature in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, is of very doubtful identity.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
1791
Miniature by an unknown artist in the Ashmolean Museum.
1801
Miniature by Robert Bowyer engraved in line by Parkes for Juvenilia, 1802 is reproduced in Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 2 vols., ed. Roger Ingpen, 1903, p 80.
c.1805
Drawing by Bennett engraved in stipple by Freeman.
c.1810
Drawing by Jackson engraved in stipple by Freeman for The Monthly Mirror, 1 May 1810 and described by Thornton Hunt as having 'an air of heavy laziness said to have characterised the artist but certainly foreign to the sitter' (introduction to Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, ed. Roger Ingpen, 1903).
Miniature on ivory by C. J. Robertson at Christie's 22 June 1872 (117), half-length seated as a young man reading The Faerie Queen (pencil sketch by Scharf in NPG copy of catalogue).
c.1811
Oil by Haydon (NPG 293).
1815
Drawing by Wageman (NPG 4505).
1818
Chalk drawing by Wildman, location unknown but described by Mrs Leigh Hunt as 'large as life ... one of the most astonishing likenesses that was ever seen; you would almost think it was going to speak to you; and the execution as a drawing equals the likeness' (Correspondence, 1862, I, p 120). Leigh Hunt sent a copy to Shelley who wrote in answer, 'My Dear Friend, At length has arrived Ollier's parcel and with it the portrait. What a delightful present! it is almost yourself and we sate talking with it and of it all the evening … It is a great pleasure to us to possess it, a pleasure in time of need; coming to us when there are few others. How we wish it were you and not your picture! how I wish we were with you' (Shelley to Hunt, Livorno, 3 September 1819).
1820
Miniature (unfinished) by Severn engraved in stipple by J. C. Armytage for Men, Women and Books, 1847 and reproduced in Edmund Blunden, Leigh Hunt, 1930, frontispiece.
c.1827
Miniature by Mrs Mee in private collection New York, perhaps that exhibited RA 1827 (861) as 'Portrait of a Gentleman'.
c.1828
Drawing by J. Hayter engraved in stipple by Meyer for Byron and his Contemporaries, 1828 - known in the family as 'the hangman' Richard Russell, 'The Portraiture of Leigh Hunt' in Keats-Shelley Memorial Bulletin, X, 1959, p 8).
1834
Pencil drawing by Maclise in V&A Museum (Forster 88), whole-length seated to left signed Leigh Hunt; another Maclise drawing, whole-length leaning against a doorway holding top-hat and gloves, was reproduced in Fraser's Magazine, June 1834; a wash drawing of this is in the NPG Reference Collection (MacDonnell, Dictionary of National Biography, XXVIII, p 268).
1838
Portraits by Laurence and Gillies (NPG 2508 and 1267).
1841
Woodcut by Mrs Gliddon reproduced in A Tale for a Chimney Corner, 1869; Leigh Hunt's daughter Mary married John Gliddon.
1850
Lithograph by G. H. Ford, head and shoulders facing with black spectacle ribbon, reproduced in Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 1850 edition, III, frontispiece.
1851
Chalk drawing by W. F. Williams, head and shoulders to right in large bow-tie, engraved in stipple by Armytage for Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, 1860 edition and lent to Third Exhibition of National Portraits, South Kensington, 1868 (606) by W. S. Williams.
1869
Memorial bust by Joseph Durham is in the Town Hall, Chelsea, and another in Kensal Green Cemetery (Art Journal, 1869, p 376, and Illustrated London News, 23 October 1869, Supplement).
Undated
Silhouette by Marianne Hunt, whole-length seated at a table writing, reproduced in Edmund Blunden, Leigh Hunt, 1930, p 328. An oil attributed to Marianne Hunt but of doubtful identity was at Christie's (South Kensington) 15 October 5980 (189).
Drawing from memory by Thornton Hunt, reproduced in E. V. Lucas, Charles Lamb, 1905, II, p 232.
Etching by W. B. Scott, group by fireside with G. H. Lewes, Vincent Hunt and Scott himself, reproduced Edmund Blunden, Leigh Hunt, 1930, p 276.
Oil in Christ's Hospital, head and shoulders as a young man with luxuriant dark hair.
A miniature in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, is of very doubtful identity.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.