British Art Journal - Wellington Portrait at Eton
April 29 2020
Picture: Eton College
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
There's an interesting article that has appeared in the recent edition of the British Art Journal concerning an overlooked portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence. The picture, in the collection of Eton College, had been dismissed by many scholars as a straightforward copy and thus ignored in much of the Lawrence literature.
However, as art historian Dominic Sanchez-Cabello writes, newly discovered correspondence from the college's archive has suggested otherwise. Surviving letters indicate that the Duke "would not present a copy [to Eton's Provost] but would sit for a new one", suggesting that a new painting in Lawrence's own hand would be sent. This new attribution has been endorsed by Dr Brian Allen, Chairman of the Hazlitt Group.
By the way, much of the college's art collection has been digitised and is well worth combing through.
