Self-portrait (recto); The Town Clerk of Brecon and his Family (verso)

This self-portrait by Hayter, painted in 1841 and now in the National Trust, shows the artist at the height of his career as Queen Victoria’s official painter. The recto shares its support with a domestic scene on the verso, an unusual arrangement that may reflect Hayter’s private experimentation. Self-portraits by successful portrait painters carry particular interest, revealing how a professional observer of faces chose to present his own. 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.

Hayter depicts himself with the same precise, analytical eye he brought to his sitters, the self-portrait showing a confident, established artist. The technique matches his professional work in quality and finish.