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Alexander Pope

8 of 46 portraits of Alexander Pope

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Alexander Pope

by William Hoare
red chalk, circa 1739-1743
6 5/8 in. x 4 1/2 in. (168 mm x 114 mm)
Purchased, 1891
Primary Collection
NPG 873

Sitterback to top

  • Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Poet. Sitter associated with 46 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • William Hoare (1707-1792), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 74 portraits, Sitter in 6 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This portrait was apparently drawn without Pope's knowledge. It is an unusually candid image of the four foot, six inch poet whose growth had been restricted as a result of an illness at the age of twelve. Possibly as a result of his appearance, Pope took great interest in the many portraits that were painted of him, seeking to control how he was portrayed.
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).

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Pickpocketing the rich : portrait painting in Bath 1720-1800, 2002 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 25 June - 15 Sept. 2002), p. 38 number 15
  • Kerslake, John, Early Georgian Portraits, 1977, p. 217
  • Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 43
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 500

Events of 1739back to top

Current affairs

Foundling Hospital is established in London by sea-captain Thomas Coram, with William Hogarth as a founding governor.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, begins his campaign of outdoor preaching, which he continues until his death in 1791.
'Great Frost': an unusually harsh winter in southern England.

Art and science

Philosopher David Hume anonymously publishes his Treatise of Human Nature, in which he applies the principles of experimental science to the human mind.

International

War of Jenkin's Ear: Convention of Pardo is held to settle differences with Spain, but Prime Minister Robert Walpole is forced to declare hostilities. At the Battle of Porto Bello, British forces under Admiral Edward Vernon capture the Panamanian town of Porto Bello from the Spanish.
Persian ruler Nadir Shah enters Delhi and removes much of the accumulated treasure of the Mughal empire.

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