Not on display

The Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli, MP, afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield

Oil Painting
ca. 1860-1868 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Portrait; Benjamin Disraeli

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli, MP, afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Brief description
Oil on canvas, 'The Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli MP (1804-1881), afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield', Charles Lucy, ca. 1860-1868
Physical description
Portrait; Benjamin Disraeli
Dimensions
  • Approx. height: 25.75in
  • Approx. width: 19.25in
Dimensions taken from Summary catalogue of British Paintings, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973
Style
Credit line
Given by Sir Joshua Walmsley
Object history
Given by Sir Joshua Walmsley, 1872

Historical significance: The history painter Charles Lucy (1814-1873) studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Paul Delaroche and later at the Royal Academy Schools in London. He lived for many years at Barbizon, near Fontainebleau. He specialised in large historical pictures from English history, with a particular interest in Puritan scenes, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1834 to 1873. Lucy received a premium of £200 for his painting Embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers in the ship Mayflower in the Westminster Hall competition of 1847.

In 1868 Lucy was commissioned to paint a series of portraits of eminent figures. The majority were 19th-century English parliamentarians: Joseph Hume, Richard Cobden, John Bright, Gladstone and Disraeli; also depicted were Oliver Cromwell, Horatio Nelson and Giuseppe Garibaldi. The Liberal MP Sir Joshua Walmsley, who commissioned the series, bequeathed it to the V&A in 1872.
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
363-1872

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Record createdJune 12, 2006
Record URL
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