Painting by Thomas Lawrence
Portrait of Sir Edward Pellew is a portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the British naval officer Sir Edward Pellew , produced around 1797.[ 1] [ 2]
Pellew joined the Royal Navy as a boy in 1770 and served during numerous campaigns during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary War . At the time Lawrence painted him Pellew had become known for his command of frigate HMS Indefatigable and it may commemorate a 1797 action fought against the much larger French ship Droits de L'Homme which was driven ashore and wrecked on the coast of Brittany .[ 3] Pellew won popular acclaim for the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816, a campaign to end the slavery practiced in North Africa .
Lawrence was an established young portrait painter and later became President of the Royal Academy . Pellew is shown wearing the full dress uniform of a Captain . Lawrence's portrait was the basis for an 1815 mezzotint print by Charles Turner , now in the National Portrait Gallery .[ 4] The gallery also has a later 1804 portrait of Pellew by James Northcote .[ 5]
Portrait of Pellew by James Northcote , 1804.
Lawrence's portrait belonged to Edward Hawke Locker who acted as civil secretary for Pellew and was possibly given it as a gift by Pellew. It is now part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich .[ 6]
References
Bibliography
Davey, James. In Nelson's Wake: The Navy and the Napoleonic Wars . Yale University Press, 2016.
Taylor, Steven. Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain . Faber & Faber, 2012.