Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

This portraitback to top

A miniature by Bauzil with similar head but wearing uniform, Golden Fleece, Peninsula Medal, Stars of KB and Tower and Sword, signed and dated in capital letters: BAUZIL - MADRID 1812, was lent to the Military Exhibition Chelsea 1890 (847a) by Alfred Stowe of Wadham College, Oxford (letters from Stowe dated November-December 1890 in NPG archive); it is believed to have been given by his descendant W. R. C. Stowe to the Wellington Club, New Zealand, in about 1936; another miniature, signed and dated 1814, is at Stratfield Saye, and another, signed and dated Madrid 1816, is at Badminton. The NPG whole-length drawing has no inscription. Bauzil, who has given Wellington a decidedly Spanish air, was Court miniaturist in Madrid to Charles IV and Ferdinand VII.

Physical descriptionback to top

Whole-length standing to right in dark blue civilian great-coat, grey trousers, black top-boots; grey hair, vivid blue eyes, pale complexion; a canal-like cutting in the landscape background.

Provenanceback to top

Given by William Smith FSA 1870.

Reproductionsback to top

Mixed mezzotint, aquatint and etching by Charles Turner, 21 May 1817, artist's name as 'Bauzit' (Alfred Whitman, Charles Turner, 1907, 599); coloured examples are in the NPG print collection and at Stratfield Saye.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, 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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