Alfred, Lord Tennyson
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
by Thomas Oldham Barlow, published by Fine Art Society Ltd, after Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt
mixed-method engraving, published 1 May 1882 (1881)
21 3/4 in. x 14 3/4 in. (552 mm x 375 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1956
Reference Collection
NPG D34498
Sitterback to top
- Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (1809-1892), Poet Laureate. Sitter in 97 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Thomas Oldham Barlow (1824-1889), Engraver and etcher. Artist or producer associated with 45 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.
- Fine Art Society Ltd, Publisher. Artist or producer associated with 8 portraits.
- Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt (1829-1896), Painter and President of the Royal Academy; ex-officio Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. Artist or producer associated with 43 portraits, Sitter in 76 portraits.
This portraitback to top
The Pre-Raphaelite artist Millais read Tennyson's poems and produced paintings, drawings and illustrations from them. He recalled that, 'from my earliest days I have been a worshipper of his words'. This fine engraving is after his 1881 portrait, which Millais conceived as one of a sequence of eminent men. Millais was pleased with the portrait, 'without immodesty, I am sure [it] is the best of him'. Tennyson however, was less impressed, saying, 'It has neither brain nor a soul, and I have both'.
Events of 1882back to top
Current affairs
The Ashes Test cricket series is born. The series gets its name from a satirical obituary published in the English newspaper The Sporting Times, stating that English cricket had died and its cremated body was being taken back to Australia, after England, with batsmen W. G. Grace and Charles Studd, lost the first home match to Australia at the Oval.The Married Women's Property Act is passed, securing equal property rights between married couples.
Art and science
Eadweard Muybridge, British photographer, exhibits his images of animal and human motion, captured with his 'zoopraxiscope', a motion-picture machine recreating movement by displaying individual photographs in rapid succession, at the Royal Academy and Royal Institution. His studies and inventions contributed to the development of motion pictures, with E.J. Marey and the Lumiere brothers acknowledging his impact.International
The Zioinist movement begins, with the first wave of Jewish immigrants to Palestine, at this time part of the Ottoman empire. The Jewish people were in Diaspora, spread across the world, and Palestine, the place of Jewish origin but now also occupied by Muslims and Christians, seemed a logical place for a settlement.Comments back to top
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