Sir Austen Henry Layard
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir Austen Henry Layard
by George Frederic Watts
black chalk, circa 1852
23 3/8 in. x 19 in. (593 mm x 484 mm)
Given by George Frederic Watts, 1895
Primary Collection
NPG 1006
Sitterback to top
- Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), Politician, diplomat and archaeologist. Sitter in 23 portraits.
Artistback to top
- George Frederic Watts (1817-1904), Painter and sculptor; Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. Artist or producer associated with 93 portraits, Sitter in 43 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This drawing is likely to be a preparatory work for another drawing of Watts by Layard. It is less finished and shows the process of shading and contrasts which Watts used to define the sitter's features.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Bryant, Barbara, G.F. Watts: Portraits, Fame & Beauty in Victorian Society, 2004 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 14 October 2004 to 9 January 2005), p. 84
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 370
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Victorian Chalk Portraits (8 June 2009 - 31 December 2009)
- G.F. Watts: Portraits - Fame & Beauty in Victorian Society (14 October 2004 - 9 January 2005)
Events of 1852back to top
Current affairs
The Peelites, a breakaway group who had supported Peel during the Corn Law reforms, join the Liberals. The Conservative Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, becomes Prime Minister after Lord John Russell's Liberal administration collapses. The administration is short-lived and replaced by a new Liberal-Peelite coalition, under the leadership of former Tory George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen.Art and science
Start of spiritualism craze in England.London physician Peter Mark Roget first publishes his thesaurus.
American author Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes the hugely successful anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin
Scottish physicist William Thomson formulates the second law of thermodynamics, demonstrating that a rapidly expanding gas cools.
International
Independent Boer republics north of the Vaal and Orange rivers are recognised by Britain following the Sand River Convention. Later, the Bloemfontein Convention (1854) formally recognises the independence of Boer republics between the Vaal and Orange rivers, resulting in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State.Tension escalates in Crimea as France demands that Turkey end Russia's exclusive control of the Christian Holy Places in the Ottoman empire.
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