SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE P.R.A. (1769–1830) – Portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, K.G., K.B., M.P. (1769-1852)
Sir Thomas Lawrence painted this celebrated portrait of the Duke of Wellington, Britain’s greatest military hero, following his defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Considered by Wellington himself to be ‘one of the best if not the best’ that Lawrence ever painted it will highlight Christie’s Old Masters evening sale on June 30 during Classic Week in London. The estimate is £8-£12 million. Begun in 1820, the year that Lawrence was elected President of the Royal Academy where the picture was later exhibited to great acclaim in 1822, the artist succeeded in penetrating Wellington’s aura of heroism and masterfully capturing the essence of the man. It was this portrait – of the eight that Lawrence executed of Wellington – that the sitter chose to gift to his friends and admirers in the form of a mezzotint by Samuel Cousins, thus establishing it as one of the best-known images of him.