Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea
5 of 116 portraits by Sir Francis Grant
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© National Portrait Gallery, London
Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea
by Sir Francis Grant
1847
56 1/4 in. x 44 in. (1429 mm x 1118 mm)
NPG 1639
This portraitback to top
Despite the fact that Lady Herbert referred to this picture as a replica of the portrait at Wilton (memorandum of October 1896, NPG archives), it is clear that the NPG picture is the original, and that the picture now at Wilton is the replica; this was confirmed by the late Earl of Pembroke. The NPG portrait was engraved by G. R. Ward, published P. and D. Colnaghi, 1847 (example in NPG). A posthumous portrait of Herbert by Grant is also at Wilton, inherited by Lady Herbert's grandson, Sir Sidney Herbert; correspondence relating to it is in the Wilton archives. In this latter portrait, clothes and setting are different (Herbert is shown in his study, for example), but the head, in pose and features, is almost identical to that in the NPG portrait.
Referenceback to top
Grant
Sir F. Grant, 'Sitters Book' (copy of original MS, NPG archives), under 1847.
Physical descriptionback to top
Healthy complexion, bluish eyes, brown hair. Dressed in a black stock, silver stock-pin and watch-chain, white shirt, black velvet(?) coat, black overcoat, and white gloves. Holding black top-hat and cane, standing in bluish and greenish-brown landscape. Sky near horizon orange and yellow, elsewhere bluish-grey.
Provenanceback to top
The sitter, presented by his son, the 14th Earl of Pembroke, in accordance with the wishes of his mother, Elizabeth, Lady Herbert of Lea, 1912.
Exhibitionsback to top
RA, 1847 (510); SKM, 1868 (478); VE, 1892 (90).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1973, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
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