Robert Vernon

© 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

Robert Vernon

by George Jones, and Henry Collen
oil on panel, 1848
30 in. x 24 3/4 in. (762 mm x 629 mm)
Purchased, 1967
Primary Collection
NPG 4513

Sitterback to top

  • Robert Vernon (1774-1849), Patron and art collector. Sitter in 1 portrait.

Artistsback to top

  • Henry Collen (1798-1879), Painter, mezzotinter and photographer. Artist or producer associated with 9 portraits.
  • George Jones (1786-1869), Painter and army officer. Artist or producer associated with 13 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 633
  • Simon, Jacob, The Art of the Picture Frame: Artists, Patrons and the Framing of Portraits in Britain, 1997 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 8 November 1996 - 9 February 1997), p. 115, 170 Read entry

    Gilt compo on pine. 4 1⁄ 2 inches wide.

    This portrait is the joint work of the miniaturist, Henry Collen, and the painter, George Jones, Keeper of the Royal Academy, who claimed to be Robert Vernon's chief adviser in forming his collection of modern British pictures, more than 150 of which he gave to the National Gallery in 1847. These are now mostly in the Tate Gallery. Constable, Turner, Wilkie, Etty and Mulready were among the artists Vernon patronised.1

    1 See also Robin Hamlyn, Robert Vernon's Gift. British Art for the Nation 1847, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, 1993.

  • Walker, Richard, Regency Portraits, 1985, p. 517

Events of 1848back to top

Current affairs

Led by Feargus O'Connor, up to 50,000 Chartist members meet on Kennington Common, to form a procession and present another petition to Parliament. Although there was a large military and police presence, the rally was peaceful.

Art and science

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood a group of English painters, poets and critics, is founded by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, intent on reforming art by rejecting the artists who imitated Raphael and Michelangelo. Instead, they advocated a return to a close observation of nature, invested with the intense detail, colours, and compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art, producing works layered with symbolism.

International

Following the fall of the French monarchy, revolutions take place in France, Germany and Italy, provoked by a widespread desire for political independence from repressive regimes, and a range of economic problems which had caused unemployment, food shortages and poverty. Louis Napoleon becomes the first President of France's Second Republic.
The first gold rush takes place in America, after gold is found on the Sacramento river, California.

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.