James Palmer, Treasurer of Christ's Hospital (1798–1824)

Lawrence painted James Palmer, Treasurer of Christ's Hospital, around 1800, for the institution he served. Christ's Hospital, the famous "Blue Coat School" founded by Edward VI, was one of London's oldest charitable foundations, educating children of limited means. Palmer's portrait would have hung in the school's public rooms as part of the institutional collection documenting its benefactors and officers. Now at Christ's Hospital, the portrait represents Lawrence's institutional commissions for schools, hospitals, and charitable foundations alongside his more glamorous society work.

Lawrence employs a sober palette appropriate to an institutional portrait, with the sitter's dark coat providing a strong contrast to the warmly lit face. The brushwork is competent and assured, though somewhat more conventional than Lawrence's most inspired society portraits.