Lawrence (Sir Thomas), P.R.A.
THOMAS LAWRENCE was born in the city of Bristol, in May, 1769. He was the youngest of a family of sixteen children, and was remarkable from his infancy for his winning manners. His father took much pains in teaching the child passages from the poets, and at five years old he could repeat any speech in Milton’s Pandemonium. The child was equally clever with his pencil; observing which, a Derbyshire baronet, struck with the boy’s genius, offered to send him to Rome at an expense of £1000, but his father replied that “his son’s talents required no cultivation.” At so young an age of five years his drawings of eyes were so good as to make Fuseli remark with enthusiasm: “But, by G—t, he paints eyes better than Titian!” In 1785, young Lawrence received the Society of Arts Medal with five guineas for the most successful copy from the old masters, being a crayon drawing of the “Transfiguration” of Raphael; he also received “the greater silver palette gilt,” by special vote of the committee. Having become a student of the Royal Academy at the age of eighteen, he sent in the year 1787 the extraordinary number of seven pictures; in the following year he sent six portraits; thirteen in 1789, and twelve pictures in 1790. At the express desire of His Majesty, Lawrence was admitted an Associate of the Royal Academy, by the suspension of a law against the admission of an Associate under the age of twenty-four. Although supported by Sir Joshua Reynolds, his election was much opposed by several academicians. Shortly before Lawrence’s return in 1820 from Rome, where he had been engaged on the great work of painting the Allied Sovereigns, Benjamin West, the President of the Royal Academy, died full of honours. Lawrence was unanimously chosen to succeed him, and the King, in approval of the choice, added a superb gold chain and medal of himself. In addition to the honour of knighthood by the Prince Regent, and admission to the Academy of St. Luke, in Rome, he became, in 1817, a member of the American Academy of the Fine Arts. He was elected by the Academy of Florence, a member of the first class. The Academy of Venice added their election in 1823; that of Bologna followed; and Turin in 1826. He was also elected a member of the Imperial Academy at Vienna, and received the diploma of the Danish Academy; and finally made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, in France. He died on the 7th January, 1830.
ROYAL FAVOURS.
Lawrence received many valuable presents from foreign princes and nobles, as marks of admiration of the great painter’s genius: the following list was made out by his sister,—
“By the King of France (Charles X.), in the autumn of 1825, he was presented with the Legion of Honour (the medal or jewel of which is in my son John’s possession); a magnificent French clock, nearly two feet high; two superb green and gold china jars; and a dessert set of Sèvres porcelain, which Sir Thomas left to the Royal Academy.
“By the Emperor of Russia, a superb diamond ring, of great value.
“By the King of Prussia, a ring, with His Majesty’s initials, F. R., in diamonds.
“He likewise received presents from the foreign ministers assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he painted all of them; from the Archduchess Charles and Princess Metternich at Vienna; from the Pope, a ring, and the Colosseum in mosaic, with his Holiness’ arms over the centre of the frame; from the Cardinal Gonsalvi, besides other presents, a gold watch, chain, and seals of intaglios, and many beautiful bonbonniere boxes of valuable stones set in gold, gold snuff-boxes, etc.; a fine gold snuff-box from Lord Whitworth, many years before.
“From the Dauphin, in 1825, a breakfast-set of porcelain, and a tea-tray painted with the court of Louis XIV.
“By Canova, at Rome, some magnificent casts, valuable engravings, etc.”
MISS FANNY KEMBLE.
In a letter to Mr. Angerstein, Lawrence gives his opinion of this celebrated actress’s successes in the following terms,—
“We have little stirring in town, one novelty excepted, which enlivens the evenings of this otherwise dull period. Your respect and regard for Mrs. Siddons and Mr. Kemble will make you glad to know that the genius and sense of both are recalled to us by the really fine acting of Miss Fanny Kemble, the daughter of their brother Charles. She is not quite nineteen, yet has so satisfied the judgment of the warmest patrons and ablest critics of the stage, that, in its worst season, she has drawn full houses (and continues to draw them) for upwards of twenty-two nights, three nights in each week, without intermission, to one of Shakespere’s finest, but certainly most hackneyed plays, Romeo and Juliet, and the boxes are already taken to Wednesday se’nnight.
“Her face is not regularly handsome, but she has a fine and flexible brow, with hair and eyes like Mrs. Siddons in her finest time. In stature she is rather short, but with such admirable courage and invariable grace of action, that on the stage she appears fully of woman’s height. Her voice is at once sweet and powerful; and blest with a clear ‘Kemble’ understanding (for it is peculiar to her family), she has likewise fine literary talent, having written a tragedy of great interest, besides lighter pieces of admirable verse. Her manner in private is characterized by ease, and that modest gravity which I believe must belong to high tragic genius, and which, in Mrs. Siddons, was strictly natural to her; though, from being peculiar in the general gaiety of society, it was often thought assumed.
“I have for many years given up the theatre (not going above once or twice in the year), but this fine genius has drawn me often to it, and each time to witness improvement and new beauties. If she is not taken from the stage, there is probability that she may remain on it a fine actress for twenty years, and thus have supported the ascendency of one family in the highest department of the drama for upwards of twenty years!”
HOAXING LAWRENCE.
Mr. John Bernard, in his “Retrospections of the Stage,” gives the following anecdote of Lawrence’s cleverness in sketching likenesses at the early age of nine years:—
“The young artist collected his materials very quickly, and essayed my visage the first. In about ten minutes he produced a faithful delineation in crayon, which for many years I kept as a curiosity. He next attempted Edwin’s, who, startled at the boy’s ability, resolved (in his usual way) to perplex him. This he did by changing the form of his features—raising his brows, compressing his lips, and widening his mouth. Tom no sooner perceived the change than he started in supreme wonder, attributing it to a defect in his own vision. The first outline was accordingly abandoned, and a second commenced. Tom was now more particular, and watched him narrowly; but Edwin, feature by feature, and muscle by muscle, so completely ran, what might be called the gamut of his countenance (as the various compartments of its harmony), that the boy drew and rubbed it out, till his hand fell by his side, and he stood silently looking in Edwin’s face, to discover, if possible, its true expression. Edwin could not long maintain his composure at his scrutiny, and revealed the hoax with a burst of merriment and mimic thunder.”
FUSELI’S ENVY.
In Lawrence’s great picture of “Satan addressing the Fallen Angels,” Fuseli complained that the figure of Satan was his own—that Lawrence had copied some one of his designs. The following account of the matter, however, was given by Lawrence in a conversation with Cunningham, and seems a sufficient explanation:—
“Fuseli, sir, was the most satirical of human beings; he had also the greatest genius for art of any man I ever knew. His mind was so essentially poetic that he was incapable of succeeding in any ordinary object, That figure of Satan, now before you, occasioned the only interruption which our friendship of many years’ standing ever experienced. He was, you know, a great admirer of Milton, from whom he had many sketches. When he first saw my Satan, he was nettled, and said, ‘You borrowed the idea from me!—‘In truth, I did take the idea from you,’ I said; ‘but it was from your person, not from your paintings. When we were together at Stackpole Court, in Pembrokeshire, you may remember how you stood on yon high rock which overlooks the bay of Bristol, and gazed down upon the sea, which rolls so magnificently below. You were in raptures; and while you were crying “Grand! Grand! Jesu Christ, how grand! how terrific!” you put yourself in a wild posture. I thought on the devil looking into the abyss, and took a slight sketch of you at the moment: here it is. My Satan’s posture now, was yours then.’”
HIS PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE.
Allan Cunningham gives the following description of the habits and practice of the great artist:—
“He rose early, and he worked late; for though no one excelled more in rapid sketches, he had a true enthusiasm for his art, and would not dismiss hastily anything for which he was to be paid as a picture. He detained his sitters often for three hours at a time; had generally eight or nine of these sittings; and all the while studied their looks anxiously, and seemed to do nothing without care and consideration. His constant practice was to begin by making a drawing of the head, full-size, on canvas, carefully tracing in dimensions and expression. This took up one day; on the next he began to paint—touching in the brows, the nose, the eyes, and the mouth, and finally the bounding line, in succession. Lawrence sometimes, nay often, laid aside the first drawing of a head, and painted on a copy. This was from his fear of losing the benefit of first impressions, which in such cases are often invaluable. It may be added that he stood all the while, and was seldom so absorbed in his undertaking that he did not converse with his sitter, and feel either seriousness or humour, whilst giving thought to the brow, or beauty to the cheek. He adhered to the old rule of receiving half payment at the beginning of a portrait.
“The distinguished person who favoured him with forty sittings for his head alone, was Sir Walter Scott. The picture was painted for George IV., and Lawrence was anxious to make the portrait the best of any painted from so celebrated a character.
“At other times, however, he was as dexterous as any artist. He once told Burnet that he painted the portrait of Curran in one day: he came in the morning, remained to dinner, and left at dusk; or, as Lawrence expressed it, quoting his favourite author
‘From morn till noon,
From noon till dewy eve.’
“The following were his progressive prices:—
| Three-quarters. Guineas. | Half-length. Guineas. | Whole length. Guineas. | |
| 1802 | 30 | 60 | 120 |
| 1804 | 35 | 70 | 140 |
| 1806 | 50 | 100 | 200 |
| 1808 | 80 | 160 | 320 |
| 1810 | 100 | 200 | 400 |
“The following were his latest prices:—
“For a head-size, or three-quarters, the great painter received £210; for a kit-cat, £315; for a half-length, £420; for a bishop, half-length, £525; and for a full-length, £630; for an extra full-length, £735.
“Lord Gower paid Lawrence fifteen hundred guineas for his admirable portrait of his lady and child; and six hundred guineas was the sum paid by Lord Durham for his portrait of Master Lambton.”