Hugh Douglas Hamilton
, Irish, 1740-1808
Title
Portrait of Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817)Datec.1800
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
77 x 65 cm
Credit LinePresented, Mrs R. Montagu, 1956
Object numberNGI.1350
DescriptionRichard Lovell Edgeworth MP (1744-1817), was an improving landlord, inventor, educationalist and writer. Edgeworth, who by his daughter Maria's account: 'had always been to a certain degree fond of good pictures, but had never turned much of his attention to them', made an ideal subject. His sympathetic face was well-suited to Hamilton's late style, which contrasted loose, lively brushwork on the head with a plain, dark background. Exhibited in Dublin in 1800, it was praised as: 'a very capital portrait…the likeness very animated, great force, warmth and truth of colour.'