Sir Thomas Lawrence was born in Bristol. By 1780 his family settled in Bath, where he may have been taught by William Hoare. He moved to London in 1787 and attended the Royal Academy schools. He later caused a sensation at the Academy with his portraits of ‘Queen Charlotte’ and ‘Miss Farren’, exhibited there in 1790. Two years later, aged 21, he succeeded Reynolds as Painter in Ordinary to the King and thereafter was kept fully occupied as a society portrait painter. He was knighted in 1815 and travelled in Europe from 1818 to 1820, painting the personalities involved in the overthrow of Napoleon. The portraits were commissioned for the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor and earned him the reputation of first portrait painter in Europe.
