Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed in pencil on the original mount: "The Duke of Wellington" after Death/drawn by the camera Lucida by T. Milnes - sculptor.

This portraitback to top

Milnes had exhibited an equestrian statue of the Duke at the RA 1845, set up in the Tower of London in 1848 and moved to Woolwich in 1863 (Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, 1953, p 261). He was a friend of George Adams and probably accompanied him to Wellington's death-bed where the drawing was made as an aide-mémoire for the death-mask and subsequent bust. No mention of a camera lucida at Walmer Castle is made in the literature.

Provenanceback to top

Given by Francis Wellesley 1931.


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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