Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), Historian; author of 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Historian; lived in Lausanne 1753-58 and 1783-93; wrote the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776-88: ‘the scope of information is vast, and the Style generally possesses the property that is styled Magic, when applied to painting’ (Rennell); FRS 1788.
‘His face is one of the most singular spectacles in physiognomy on account of the irregular proportions of the individual parts of the whole. The eyes are so small that they afford the strongest contrast with the high and splendidly arched brow; the rather snub nose almost disappears between the extremely prominent cheeks, and the large double chin hanging far down makes the already elongated oval of the face still more striking’ (Friedrich Matthisson, 1802).
‘I heard [Soames Jenyns] very innocently remark, when Gibbon published his history, that he wondered any body so ugly could write a book’ (Richard Cumberland, 1807).
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.
‘His face is one of the most singular spectacles in physiognomy on account of the irregular proportions of the individual parts of the whole. The eyes are so small that they afford the strongest contrast with the high and splendidly arched brow; the rather snub nose almost disappears between the extremely prominent cheeks, and the large double chin hanging far down makes the already elongated oval of the face still more striking’ (Friedrich Matthisson, 1802).
‘I heard [Soames Jenyns] very innocently remark, when Gibbon published his history, that he wondered any body so ugly could write a book’ (Richard Cumberland, 1807).
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.