Alfred, Lord Tennyson

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

by Thomas Woolner
plaster cast of medallion, 1856
10 1/4 in. (260 mm) diameter
Purchased, 1953
Primary Collection
NPG 3847

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Thomas Woolner (1825-1892), Sculptor and poet. Artist or producer associated with 24 portraits, Sitter in 28 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The Pre-Raphaelite sculptor Thomas Woolner met Tennyson in the late 1840s and made a first, unsuccessful, medallion portrait of him in 1850. The type here is one of a number of casts based on a medallion which Woolner began while staying with the Tennysons at Farringford on the Isle of Wight in 1855. It was widely admired by the poet's family and friends, Browning thinking that 'no likeness could possibly be better', James Spedding calling it 'magnificent', and Tennyson's wife Emily praised its 'delicate yet lofty beauty'. The image became widely known when an engraving of it appeared on the frontispiece to the first illustrated edition of Tennyson's Poems in 1857.

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1856back to top

Current affairs

Queen Victoria introduces the Victoria cross, an award for British soldiers who displayed exceptional valour in battle. Each medal was produced from Russian guns captured in the British war. In 2006, Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry became the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross since 1965, for his actions in the Iraq war.

Art and science

The National Portrait Gallery is founded by Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl of Stanhope, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and Thomas Carlyle, all biographers and historians. Historical rather than artistic in focus, the Gallery's aim was to collect original portraits of outstanding figures from British history, notably from politics, the arts, literature and science.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning publishes her epic and autobiographical poem Aurora Leigh.

International

The Treaty of Paris ends the Crimean war. Russia concedes to the Anglo-French-Austrian Four Points of August 1854 including the guarantee of Ottoman sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia also agreed to a demilitarisation of the land islands in the Baltics, a term which lasted until the outbreak of the First World War.
Britain launches the second Opium war against China.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.