Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Bt
1 portrait matching these criteria:
- subject matching 'Books and libraries'
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- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Bt
by Frans van der Mijn (or Myn)
oil on canvas, 1750
49 7/8 in. x 40 1/8 in. (1267 mm x 1019 mm)
Purchased, 1979
Primary Collection
NPG 5275
Sitterback to top
- Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Bt (circa 1702-1777), Colonial governor and amateur architect. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Artistback to top
- Frans van der Mijn (or Myn) (1719-1783), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 11 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Dressed in the height of fashion, Robinson is shown as man of taste, learning and 'sensibility' - the cult of sensitivity and emotional expression that was just taking hold across Europe. He reads a volume of poetry by his first wife, Elizabeth Lechmere, who died in 1739. Robinson probably commissioned this portrait, painted in 1750. Conservation of this portrait has been supported by Giancarla and Michael Alen-Buckley.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Smartify image discovery app
- Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 401
- Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 118
- Ribeiro, Aileen; Blackman, Cally, A Portrait of Fashion: Six Centuries of Dress at the National Portrait Gallery, 2015, p. 130
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 527
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1750back to top
Current affairs
Notorious highwayman James MacLaine is apprehended and hanged at Tyburn, having passed in society as a wealthy gentleman for two years.Scottish landlords start evicting tenants in the Highland Clearances.
Westminster Bridge is opened, the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Putney.
Iron Act is passed restricting the manufacture of iron products in the American colonies.
Art and science
Electrician and experimental philosopher John Canton reads a paper before the Royal Society on a method of making artificial magnets.Writer Samuel Johnson begins publishing his periodical The Rambler.
Artist Joshua Reynolds travels to Italy, where he remains until 1752.
Establishment of the Jockey Club; a gentleman's club which took over the regulation of British horse racing.
International
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach dies in Leipzig. He completes his Mass in B Minor, worked on over many years, shortly before his death.Comments back to top
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