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George Granville Leveson-Gower (1758–1833), 1st Duke of Sutherland
Thomas Lawrence·1800
Historical Context
George Granville Leveson-Gower, created 1st Duke of Sutherland in 1833, was the wealthiest man in England and one of the most powerful landowners in Scotland. Painted in 1800, this portrait at Abbot Hall Art Gallery shows him before the Highland Clearances that would make the Sutherland name infamous in Scottish history. His wife, the Countess of Sutherland in her own right, oversaw the controversial removal of thousands of tenants from the Sutherland estates.
Technical Analysis
Lawrence portrays the future Duke with the assured elegance of immense wealth and social position. The warm, polished treatment reflects the sitter's place at the very apex of Georgian society, with careful attention to the aristocratic features and confident bearing that wealth and breeding together produced.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the assured elegance of immense wealth: Lawrence gives the future Duke of Sutherland the polish of England's wealthiest man.
- ◆Look at the warm, polished treatment reflecting the sitter's apex social position.
- ◆Observe the Abbot Hall Art Gallery location: the portrait shows Leveson-Gower before the Highland Clearances that would make his name infamous.
- ◆Find the power without menace that Lawrence projects: the portrait has no hint of the dispossessions that would define his historical reputation.
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