William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

1 portrait matching these criteria:

- npg number matching '259'

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

after Richard Brompton
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1772
45 3/4 in. x 33 3/4 in. (1162 mm x 857 mm)
Given by Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, 1868
Primary Collection
NPG 259

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  • Richard Brompton (1734-1783), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 17 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This portrait of Lord Chatham in his parliamentary robes is a version of one painted in 1772 as a gift from Chatham to his friend, Lord Stanhope. When the original was exhibited the following year, it was seen by Horace Walpole who thought it a strong likeness but raw and hard. This version comes from the Stanhope family but is not good enough to be the original. More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).

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Current affairs

Somersett's Case: William Murrary, 1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, rules that slaves could not be taken out of their country against their will after the case of American slave John Somersett is brought before him.
Royal Marriages Act requires the monarch's consent for the marriage of all members of the royal family.

Art and science

Chemist Daniel Rutherford demonstrates his method for isolating nitrogen from other gases.
Inventor James Watt produces the first micrometer to simply and accurately measure small distances. It is to prove crucial in the development of early machinery.
Britain's first trunk canal, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, opens for business.

International

Swiss pastor Johann Kaspar Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy revive the study of character through outward appearance.
Captain James Cook sets off, aboard HMS Resolution, on his second Pacific voyage.
First partition of Poland marks the start of Poland's disappearance as an independent state.

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