Porträt des Duke of Wellington (1769-1852)

Wellington’s face was one of the most frequently painted in nineteenth-century Europe, and Hayter contributed multiple portraits to the iconography. This 1836 version shows the Duke at sixty-seven, a decade after Waterloo had made him the most famous man in Europe. The German title suggests the painting has passed through Continental collections, not unusual for portraits of a figure with pan-European significance. George Hayter was the preeminent British history and portrait painter of the early Victorian era, appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1841.

Wellington’s sharply defined features—the hooked nose, thin lips, and steady gaze—are rendered with the familiarity of repeated painting. Hayter’s technique is confident and economical.