Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan

1 portrait of Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan

by John Smart
pencil and wash, feigned oval, 1798
7 1/8 in. x 6 3/8 in. (181 mm x 162 mm)
Purchased, 1963
Primary Collection
NPG 4315

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • John Smart (1741-1811), Miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 20 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 189
  • Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 81 Read entry

    Adam Duncan, a formidable figure, six feet four inches tall and of corresponding breadth, achieved fame at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 when the Dutch fleet, carrying troops for the invasion of Ireland, was destroyed after a long and bloody engagement. Nelson said he wished he had been there with Duncan, who was rewarded with a peerage as Viscount Duncan of Camperdown. Smart's superb portrait, a triumph of draughtsmanship, was probably intended for an engraving, as with NPG 4316.

  • Walker, Richard, Regency Portraits, 1985, p. 162

Events of 1798back to top

Current affairs

To meet war costs, William Pitt introduces a Finance Bill which levies income tax for the first time.

Art and science

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads; a key publication for the romantic movement in poetry. Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner opens the volume.
Publisher and printseller Rudolph Ackermann establishes his popular 'Repository of the Arts' shop, gallery, library and social centre on the Strand.

International

Uprising of the United Irishmen: a republican rebellion which attempted to achieve Ireland's total independence by force with the aid of a French invasion. It was only narrowly defeated.
Battle of the Nile. Napoleon's visionary Egyptian campaign offers British first major victory as Nelson destroys the French fleet.

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