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Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

5 of 26 portraits of Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

by Carlo Marochetti
bronze medallion, 1848
9 5/8 in. (245 mm) diameter
Purchased, 1868
Primary Collection
NPG 257

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Marochetti modelled his portrait in 1848, the same year Macaulay's famous History of England was published. The sitter's name in stencilled lettering was added after the casting, either by the sculptor or one of his studio assistants. This medallion was purchased by the Gallery at the Marochetti sale in 1868. There are examples in the collections of the National Liberal Club, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the National Trust at Wallington, Northumberland.

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Current affairs

Led by Feargus O'Connor, up to 50,000 Chartist members meet on Kennington Common, to form a procession and present another petition to Parliament. Although there was a large military and police presence, the rally was peaceful.

Art and science

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood a group of English painters, poets and critics, is founded by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, intent on reforming art by rejecting the artists who imitated Raphael and Michelangelo. Instead, they advocated a return to a close observation of nature, invested with the intense detail, colours, and compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art, producing works layered with symbolism.

International

Following the fall of the French monarchy, revolutions take place in France, Germany and Italy, provoked by a widespread desire for political independence from repressive regimes, and a range of economic problems which had caused unemployment, food shortages and poverty. Louis Napoleon becomes the first President of France's Second Republic.
The first gold rush takes place in America, after gold is found on the Sacramento river, California.

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