William Pitt (1759-1806)

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Downing Street

Robert Ker Porter was born in Durham. He entered the Royal Academy Schools at 13. In 1793 he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for Shoreditch church, followed by further biblical works. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1792 to 1805 and produced enormous battle panorama, including the 120 foot long ‘Storming of Seringapatam’ (1800). In 1805 he travelled to Russia to paint historical murals for the Admiralty in St. Petersburg. After leaving Russia in 1813, he was knighted by the Prince Regent. He began a period of travel in 1817, which led to the publication ‘Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia’ (1821). In 1825, he was appointed British Consul in Venezuela. He returned to England in 1841, where he died aged 65.
Samuel William Reynolds was a painter and engraver. Despite publishing his first prints in the mid-1790s, he found himself in debt by 1800 and came to rely upon the financial help of Samuel Whitbread MP. It was under Whitbread’s patronage that Reynolds was able to broaden his interests to include painting, architecture and landscape design. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy and British Institution and was also a collector; owning a group of drawings by Thomas Girtin. In 1809 he visited France for the first time and he went on to exhibit engravings at the Paris Salon in 1810 and 1812. Reynolds also worked in Paris on occasion, where he found a market for his paintings of landscapes and cottage scenes.

People

William Pitt (1759 - 1806)

Places

England, London, Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster, Westminster

Subjects

topography, male portrait, 18th century costume, stockings, breeches, shoe, Prime Minister, column, balcony, curtain

Materials & Techniques

mezzotint

Artist

Robert Ker Porter (1777 - 1842)
Samuel William Reynolds (1773 - 1835)

Title

William Pitt (1759-1806)

Date

published 1 September 1799

Medium

Mezzotint

Acquisition

Bequeathed by Sir Edward Walter Hamilton, 1908

Provenance

Bequeathed to 10 Downing Street by Sir Edward Walter Hamilton, 1908

GAC number

0/20/22