William Wilberforce (1759–1833)

Lawrence painted William Wilberforce around 1800, depicting the great anti-slavery campaigner during his long parliamentary battle against the slave trade. Wilberforce, elected MP for Yorkshire in 1784, devoted his career to the abolition of slavery, finally achieving the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Now in the Guildhall in Kingston upon Hull, Wilberforce's birthplace, the portrait connects the campaigner to the city that takes pride in his legacy. Lawrence's portrait captures the moral earnestness that drove one of the most consequential reform campaigns in British history.

Lawrence portrays Wilberforce with the earnest intelligence and moral conviction that defined his public career. The relatively modest treatment avoids the grandeur of Lawrence's aristocratic portraits in favor of a more personal, intimate characterization that suits a man known for his sincerity and moral purpose rather than social display.