Lord Granville Leveson Gower, later 1st Earl Granville

Lord Granville Leveson Gower, later 1st Earl Granville

1804–9
Sir Thomas Lawrence
British, 1769–1830
Oil on canvas
92 1/2 x 51 1/2 in. (235 x 130.8 cm)

The imposing portrait Lord Granville Leveson-Gower, later 1st Earl Granville displays Sir Thomas Lawrence’s mastery of design and handling of paint. The arrangement of the foreground figure and the crimson curtain, and the dramatic stormy sky, draw upon the manner of the Old Masters, yet despite the grandeur of the traditional setting, Lawrence captured the immediacy of Lord Granville’s demeanor in his relaxed pose and penetrating eyes. The most celebrated portraitist in Europe during his lifetime, Lawrence was greatly admired by Eugène Delacroix.

 

B1981.25.736
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection