King William IV

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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King William IV

by Sir Martin Archer Shee
oil on canvas, circa 1800
87 in. x 59 in. (2210 mm x 1499 mm)
Purchased with help from the Art Fund, 1928
Primary Collection
NPG 2199

On display in Room 15 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

  • King William IV (1765-1837), Reigned 1830-37. Sitter associated with 175 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Sir Martin Archer Shee (1769-1850), Portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy. Artist or producer associated with 91 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Depicted here in the full-dress uniform of an admiral William spent much of his life as a naval officer. Known for his robust quarterdeck attitudes and his lower-deck language he was described by Queen Victoria as 'very odd and singular'.

Related worksback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

Events of 1800back to top

Current affairs

Widespread food riots after poor harvests of 1798-9. Theorist, Thomas Malthus, controversially argues that poverty and food shortages are an inevitable consequence of population growth, challenging assumptions that populousness was a sign of national prosperity and power. His thesis contributed forcefully to the debate over the existing Poor Law.

Art and science

William Wordsworth publishes his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads; a retrospective explanation of his experimental poems written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It becomes one of the best-known manifestos of Romantic literature.

International

Lord Castlereagh, Chief Secretary for Ireland, is the main architect of the Act of Union under which Ireland is merged with Great Britain and the Irish parliament is abolished.
British troops support successful uprising by Maltese against the French.
Napoleon is victorious against Austrians at Marengo and reconquers Italy.

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