Portrait of the Marquess Wellesley

Portrait of the Marquess Wellesley
Artist	Thomas Lawrence
Year	1812-1813
Type	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	130 cm × 104 cm (52 in × 40.8 in)
Location	Royal Collection, Windsor Castle

The Marquess of Wellesley is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Irish statesman Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley.^[1] Wellesley was a senior politician in Britain where he served as Foreign Secretary from 1809 to 1812 and was regarded as a potential future Prime Minister. Lawrence was the leading portraitist of the Regency era, depicting prominent figures from Britain and it's European Allies during the Napoleonic Wars. It is also known as the Portrait of Lord Wellesley.

Subject

Portrait of the Duke of Wellington. Lawrence's 1815 painting of Wellesley's younger brother and protégé.

A member of the Irish Aristocracy, Wellesley had made his name during his spell as Governor-General of India. He had promoted the career of his younger brother Arthur, the future Duke of Wellington. By the time Lawrence painted him he was rapidly being eclipsed in fame by his younger brother who led British and Allied troops to victory in the Peninsular War and the later Battle of Waterloo.^[2]

Wellesley resigned from the government in early 1812 in a failed attempt to replace Spencer Perceval.^[3] His successor at the Foreign Office was Lord Castlereagh who oversaw British policy during the defeat of Napoleon. Wellesley remained on the political sidelines for several years, before his career revived by being made Viceroy of his native Ireland in 1821.

Painting

The painting was commissioned by the sitter. He is shown dressed in an ensemble of black clothing and sitting on a red upholstered armchair with a curtain in the background. He is wearing the prestigious Order of the Garter (Lesser George of the Order of the Garter on the riband and the Garter on the left leg). As with all his major portraits, Laurence executed the work in oil on canvas.^[4] It became the best-known image of Wellesley, who was painted on several occasions, due to the numerous engravings made of it.^[5] An 1815 mezzotint by Charles Turner is now in the National Portrait Gallery.^[6] The original painting was later presented by Wellesley to the young Queen Victoria. In 1859 it was hanging at Windsor Castle. It remains part of the Royal Collection.^[7]

A few years after completing the painting, Lawrence depicted Wellesley's future wife the American heiress Marriane^[8][9]

See also

• Portrait of Lord Castlereagh, a painting by Lawrence of Wellesley's successor as Foreign Secretary

References

1. Levey p.10
2. Muir p.21
3. Thompson p.46
4. https://www.rct.uk/collection/400643/richard-colley-wellesley-marquess-wellesley-1760-1842
5. Hutton p.193
6. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw196333/Richard-Colley-Wellesley-Marquess-Wellesley?LinkID=mp04750&role=sit&rNo=8
7. https://www.rct.uk/collection/400643/richard-colley-wellesley-marquess-wellesley-1760-1842
8. Wake p.XII
9. https://www.mdhistory.org/resources/mary-anne-caton-patterson-wellesley-marchioness-wellesley-mrs-robert-patterson-mrs-richard-wellesley/

Bibliography

• Butler, Iris. The Eldest Brother: The Marquess Wellesley, 1760-1842. Hodder and Stoughton, 1973.
• Hutton, William Holden. The Marquess Wellesley, K.G. Clarendon Press, 1893.
• Levey, Michael. Sir Thomas Lawrence. Yale University Press, 2005.
• Muir, Rory. Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune. Yale University Press, 2019.
• Thompson, Neville. Earl Bathurst and British Empire. Pen and Sword, 1999.
• Wake, Jehanne. Sisters of Fortune: America's Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad. Simon and Schuster, 2012.