William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) Prime Minister

Sir John Everett, (after) Millais

Oil on canvas

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection

    Dressed in red academic robes, Prime Minister William Gladstone fixes a stern stare on the viewer. He is shown seated in a carved wooden chair within a panelled interior, which may represent a room of No. 10 Downing Street.

    Gladstone sat for his first portrait from Millais in 1879. Five separate hour-long sittings were required, after which he noted in his diary that the artist’s ‘ardour and energy about his picture inspire a strong sympathy’. A second Millais painting of Gladstone, painted in 1884-85, is at Eton College, Windsor. This work is a copy of the artist’s third portrait, painted when the sitter was 76 and now in the collection of Christ Church, Oxford. This copy was presented to the Government by Gladstone's private secretaries in 1895.

  • About the artist
    John Everett Millais studied at the Royal Academy Schools, where he exhibited his first work at the age of 16. While at the Academy he formed lasting friendships with William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Together they founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 and Millais is now widely considered to have been the most accomplished painter of the group. After distancing himself from the Brotherhood to adopt a more popular style, he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1853. From 1860 onwards he produced a succession of works which brought him considerable success and became a fashionable society portraitist. Millais died at the age of 76, just a few months after being appointed President of the Royal Academy.
  • Explore
    People
    William Ewart Gladstone (1809 - 1898)
    Places
    Subjects
    male portrait, Pre-Raphaelites, man, 19th century costume, robe, ring, Leader of the Liberal Party, Prime Minister, armchair
    Materials & Techniques
    canvas, oil, oil painting
  • Details
    Artist
    Sir John Everett, (after) Millais
    Title
    William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) Prime Minister
    Date
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    height: 125.00 cm, width: 89.00 cm
    Acquisition
    Presented by the sitter's Private Secretaries, 1895
    Provenance
    Copy after original in Christchurch, Oxford. Presented by sitter's Private Secretaries, 1895 (when was copied from the original painting by Millais in the possession of the Earl of Rosebery)
    GAC number
    0/34