Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Edward Wortley Montagu (1713-1776), Writer and traveller; son of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
c.1717
Painting attributed to J-B. Vanmour, see NPG 3924.
1764
‘By a Gentleman, Portrait of Edward Wortley Montagu, Esq., with a view of part of the written Mountains in Arabia’, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1769 (365, hors catalogue). William Watson wrote to Montagu on 25 September 1775 saying he would be ‘very glad to see your portrait. I have more than once visited that representing you near the Written Mountains’, i.e. in the Sinai Peninsula which Montagu had visited in 1764 (J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, IV, pp 646-47).
1775
Painting by George Romney, three-quarter length standing in oriental dress with dark beard. Private collection. Painted in Venice. Engraved G. Fiesinger 1793; J. Condé 1793 (both bust length). Romney painted a replica (with Lord Wharncliffe in 1961; engraved W. Greatbach 1837) and a version was at Highcliffe Castle in 1949. Romney also drew a ‘head in crayons’ based on the three-quarter length (Rev. John Romney, Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney ... also some particulars of the life of Peter Romney, his Brother, 1830, p 123). A half-length copy sold Sotheby’s NY, 8 July 1999, lot 55.
Painting by M. W. Peters, see NPG 4573.
c.1775
Painting by Pietro Longhi, seated in Turkish dress attended by a black servant. Private collection, Venice (illus. T. Pignatti, Longhi, L’opera complete, 1974, no.207).
Undated
Anon. miniature, exhibited Royal House of Guelph, New Gallery, London, 1891 (749) lent Lord Wharncliffe.
Doubtful Portraits
The marble bust by Peter Scheemakers, 1766, in the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge (illus. D. McKitterick, Wren Library, 1995, pl.78, p 135) is of Edward Wortley Montagu (1678-1761) père. An anon. three-quarter length in oriental costume, with Berry Hill Galleries NY in 1957, exhibited Second special exhibition of National Portraits (William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1867 (406) lent F. Vernon Wentworth.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.
Painting attributed to J-B. Vanmour, see NPG 3924.
1764
‘By a Gentleman, Portrait of Edward Wortley Montagu, Esq., with a view of part of the written Mountains in Arabia’, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1769 (365, hors catalogue). William Watson wrote to Montagu on 25 September 1775 saying he would be ‘very glad to see your portrait. I have more than once visited that representing you near the Written Mountains’, i.e. in the Sinai Peninsula which Montagu had visited in 1764 (J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, IV, pp 646-47).
1775
Painting by George Romney, three-quarter length standing in oriental dress with dark beard. Private collection. Painted in Venice. Engraved G. Fiesinger 1793; J. Condé 1793 (both bust length). Romney painted a replica (with Lord Wharncliffe in 1961; engraved W. Greatbach 1837) and a version was at Highcliffe Castle in 1949. Romney also drew a ‘head in crayons’ based on the three-quarter length (Rev. John Romney, Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney ... also some particulars of the life of Peter Romney, his Brother, 1830, p 123). A half-length copy sold Sotheby’s NY, 8 July 1999, lot 55.
Painting by M. W. Peters, see NPG 4573.
c.1775
Painting by Pietro Longhi, seated in Turkish dress attended by a black servant. Private collection, Venice (illus. T. Pignatti, Longhi, L’opera complete, 1974, no.207).
Undated
Anon. miniature, exhibited Royal House of Guelph, New Gallery, London, 1891 (749) lent Lord Wharncliffe.
Doubtful Portraits
The marble bust by Peter Scheemakers, 1766, in the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge (illus. D. McKitterick, Wren Library, 1995, pl.78, p 135) is of Edward Wortley Montagu (1678-1761) père. An anon. three-quarter length in oriental costume, with Berry Hill Galleries NY in 1957, exhibited Second special exhibition of National Portraits (William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1867 (406) lent F. Vernon Wentworth.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.