Unknown man, formerly known as Paul Whitehead

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Unknown man, formerly known as Paul Whitehead

by John Downman
oil on canvas, 1770
29 3/4 in. x 25 1/8 in. (756 mm x 638 mm)
Given by E. Charteris, 1912
Primary Collection
NPG 1679

Sitterback to top

  • Paul Whitehead (1710-1774), Satirist. Sitter associated with 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • John Downman (1750-1824), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 33 portraits.

This portraitback to top

When or why the name of Whitehead became attached to this portrait, which bears no resemblance to other likenesses of the satirist, is not recorded. More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).

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Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1770back to top

Current affairs

Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford.

Art and science

Oliver Goldsmith publishes his poem The Deserted Village.
Philosopher and politician Edmund Burke publishes Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents discussing the limits of the King's authority.
17-year-old Thomas Chatterton, later hailed as a significant poet, commits suicide in a London garret.
Thomas Gainsborough paints his portrait of Jonathan Buttall, which later becomes known as The Blue Boy.

International

'Townshend duties' on imports into the colonies are repealed, except for the duty on tea. However, this concession is soon followed by the Boston Massacre, in which British troops fire into an unruly crowd in Boston, killing five.
Captain Cook reaches the eastern coast of Australia, at a place which he names Botany Bay. He discovers the Great Barrier Reef when HMS Endeavour runs onto it. Cook claims New South Wales for the British.

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