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James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

10 of 11 portraits of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

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James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

by James Faed the Elder, published by Henry Graves & Co, after Sir Francis Grant
mezzotint, published 7 June 1864
28 5/8 in. x 17 in. (726 mm x 433 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1960
Reference Collection
NPG D36140

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • James Faed the Elder (1821-1911), Engraver and painter. Artist or producer associated with 25 portraits.
  • Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878), Portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy; Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. Artist or producer associated with 110 portraits, Sitter associated with 21 portraits.
  • Henry Graves & Co (active 1844-1899), Publishers. Artist or producer associated with 243 portraits.

Placesback to top

Events of 1864back to top

Current affairs

First of the Contagious Diseases Act. These acts allowed for the arrest, medical inspection and confinement of any woman suspected of being a prostitute in the port towns. Following huge public outcry over their discrimination against women, notably led by Josephine Butler, leader of the Ladies' National Association, the acts were eventually repealed.
Octavia Hill starts work on slums, and the International Working Men's Association is founded in London.

Art and science

The Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell presents his discoveries in the field of electromagnetics to the Royal Society. His paper A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field expresses the basic laws of electricity and magnetism in unified fashion. Maxwell's equations, as his rules came to be known, helped create modern physics, laying the foundation for future work in special relativity and quantum mechanics.

International

Austria and Prussia combine forces to seize Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark.
Britain cedes Corfu, acquired from France in the Second Treaty of Paris (1815) to Greece. Although Britain had vigorously suppressed an uprising in 1849 in Cephalonia aiming to restore Iolian islands, the government changed policy throughout the 1850s and 60s.

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