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Description: | Acquisition: gift from Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, fourteenth Earl of Derby, 1859 Description: Whole length, standing close to a large column, slightly to right, head turned to to left; dark brown hair, grey whiskers; lace bands and ruffles; heavy black brocaded silk Chancellor's robe with gold lace trimming on collar, facings and sleeves, over black coat and breeches, brown silk stockings and black buckle shoes; his left hand holds an eyeglass, his right a square cap with gold tassel; a view of All Souls College and the dome of the Radcliffe Camera under blue sky to right; brownish red curtain to left. In November 1857 the University applied to the Chancellor, Lord Derby, for his portrait, in order that it might be placed in the University Galleries. The Chancellor accepted the proposal, and in reply to his wish for the University to mention an artist, the names of (Sir) Francis Grant and George Richmond were put forward. In May 1859 the Hebdomadal Council were informed that the portrait was finished and ordered that it be hung in the Picture Gallery among the series of Chancellors. On 21 May 1860 the Vice Chancellor informed the Council that Lord Derby's portrait had arrived in Oxford, and the Council agreed that it should be framed and hung in the Bodleian Gallery. It is not clear whether the entry in a list of Sir Francis Grant's works kept by Lady Grant: '1858 May The Earl of Derby, Prime Minister. Full length. £210' refers to this portrait, or another painted for Lord Derby himself. The similarity of the head in both indicates that they were painted from the same sittings. (List of Works by Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A.' inscribed 'Copy of list of pictures by my father Sir Francis Grant, from a manuscript book kept by my mother Lady Grant. Dec. 1898. (Miss) E.C. Grant', National Portrait Gallery Archive, London, not paginated.) Richard Ormond noted that according to George Scharf, the version done for Lord Derby was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1859 (no.236), and that, according to Mrs Lane Poole, the portrait exhibited was the portrait of Lord Derby in his robes as Chancellor of Oxford University. (R. Ormond, National Portrait Gallery, Early Victorian Portraits, 2 vols, 1973, 1, p.136) The delay between the completion of the portrait in May 1859 and its arrival in Oxford in May 1860, together with its status as the raison d'être for the commission suggests that the artist would have submitted the portrait commissioned to commemorate Lord Derby's chancellorship of Oxford University. Engraved by James Scott; F. Bromley, 1860 External Link: Oxford Portraits website | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: by Sir Francis Grant | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=891... | Go to resource |
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