One of Lawrence’s most glamorous and flamboyant early works, this portrait of the fifth duke of Leeds was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796, when, according to Joseph Farington, it triumphantly restored the artist’s reputation. Francis Osborne (1751-1799), who succeeded his father as Duke of Leeds in 1789, was educated at Eton and Christ Church, and pursued a career in politics. He was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by William Pitt the Younger in 1783, but resigned in 1791. Lawrence’s portrait shows him in the robes of a Knight of the Order of the Garter, proudly standing in a dramatic landscape which incorporates part of his Yorkshire seat at Hornby Castle.
In: Whiteley, Jon, Catherine Casley, Colin Harrison, Marlia Mundell Mango, Timothy Newberry, Christian Rumelin, Catherine Whistler, and Timothy Wilson, The Ashmolean Museum: Complete Illustrated Catalogue of Paintings, (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum 2004

Provenance: Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Ashmolean Museum, 2014.

Text from Ashmolean Museum website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769 – 1830)
Date: 1853-4

Image Details
Date: 28 March 2024
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Image of an Ashmolean Museum asset. This image cannot be licensed.