Thomas
Lawrence, the son of an innkeeper, was born in Bristol
in 1769. He developed a reputation for painting portraits as a child
and by the age of twelve had his own studio in Bath.
In 1787 he became a student at the Royal Academy
and two years later, at the age of twenty, he was asked to paint Queen
Charlotte, the wife of George III. The
king was pleased with the portrait and on the death of Sir
Joshua Reynolds in 1792, he appointed Lawrence as the royal painter.
Lawrence was knighted in 1815 and five years later became president
of the Royal Academy. Although Lawrence
was a very popular painter who could command high fees for his work,
he was often heavily in debt. Lawrence painting the portraits of many
leading politicians including Sir Francis
Burdett and William Wilberforce.
Sir Thomas Lawrence died in 1830.
Sir
Thomas Lawrence, Sir
Francis Burdett (1793)
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