Richard Bentley

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Richard Bentley

by John Giles Eccardt
oil on canvas, 1753
16 5/8 in. x 13 1/2 in. (422 mm x 343 mm)
Purchased, 1986
Primary Collection
NPG 5885

On display at Strawberry Hill Trust, Twickenham

Sitterback to top

  • Richard Bentley (1708-1782), Writer and artist; son of Richard Bentley. Sitter in 3 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • John Giles Eccardt (active 1740-died 1779), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 21 portraits.

This portraitback to top

One of six Eccardt portraits commissioned by Walpole , Bentley is here shown in van Dyck-style costume. In one hand he holds his own design of the figure of Melancholy drawn by him for the edition of Thomas Gray's Odes (1753).

Linked publicationsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1753back to top

Current affairs

After a month's absence, servant Elizabeth Canning returns to her mother's house claiming that she was abducted. The following trial causes uproar and becomes one of the most famous criminal mysteries of the century.
Hardwicke's Marriage Act (named after its champion Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke) is passed, aimed at preventing clandestine marriages.



Art and science

Artist Joshua Reynolds establishes his portrait practice in London.
Swiss painter and pastellist Jean-Etienne Liotard arrives in London where he enjoys great success until his departure in 1756.


International

George Washington undertakes a difficult and ineffectual journey to persuade the French to withdraw from the Ohio valley.
First steam engine arrives in the American colonies.
First official celebration of St Patrick's Day on 17 March, organised by the Charitable Irish Society in Boston.
Britain, Austria and Modena sign a secret military treaty.

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