King Alfred ('The Great')
© National Portrait Gallery, London
King Alfred ('The Great')
by George Vertue
line engraving, 1733
11 5/8 in. x 7 5/8 in. (295 mm x 195 mm) plate size; 12 5/8 in. x 8 5/8 in. (321 mm x 218 mm) paper size
Given by Sir Herbert Henry Raphael, 1st Bt, 1913
Reference Collection
NPG D18686
Sitterback to top
- King Alfred ('The Great') (849-899), King of the West Saxons. Sitter associated with 13 portraits.
Artistback to top
- George Vertue (1683-1756), Engraver and antiquary. Artist or producer associated with 865 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D38593: King Alfred ('The Great') (from same plate)
- NPG D23575: King Alfred ('The Great') (from same plate)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1733back to top
Current affairs
Prime Minister Robert Walpole narrowly escapes defeat in the House of Lords over the investigation into the South Sea affair. His Excise scheme, introduced the previous year, also provokes widespread resistance among merchants and is withdrawn.Sugar and Molasses Act is passed by Parliament to tax British colonists in North America.
Art and science
John Kay, working in the Lancashire woollen industry, patents the flying shuttle to speed up weaving.Poet Alexander Pope publishes his philosophical Essay on Man, which proposes a system of ethics in poetic form.
Clergyman Stephen Hales publishes the second volume of his Statical Essays, Haemastaticks, describing the measurement of the 'force of the blood', later known as blood pressure.
International
Philip V of Spain and Louis XV of France sign the Treaty of Escurial and form an alliance against Britain.Voltaire publishes Letters on the English Nation comparing France unfavourably with England.
British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia.
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