Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Born in Corfu, Spiridioni Gambardella began his career as an opera singer. His sympathy for the movement to unify Italy led him to flee to the United States, where he became a self-taught portraitist. He moved to London in 1841, with a letter of introduction from American essayist Ralph Emerson to Thomas Carlyle. When Gambardella applied for British citizenship in 1846, former Lord Chancellor Henry, Lord Brougham was among his sponsors.

Spiridione Gambardella was born in Naples. He escaped as a political refugee to the United States in the 1830s and settled in London in 1841. Gambardella exhibited mainly domestic scenes in London between 1842 and 1852, showing four works at the Royal Academy and eight at the British Institution. He was patronised by the Second Duke of Wellington. He spent a period in Liverpool, painting portraits of merchants, before returning to Italy, where he died.

People

Brougham, Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux

Places

Subjects

male portrait, man, 19th century costume, suit, frock coat, waistcoat, cravat, watch chain, lawyer, Baron, Member of Parliament, Lord Chancellor

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Spiridione Gambardella (c.1815 - 1886)

Title

Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868) Lord Chancellor

Date

1845-1850

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 127.50 cm, width: 102.00 cm

Acquisition

Presented by Sigurdur Benediktsson, August 1953

Provenance

Collection of the Second Duke of Wellington (No.216; 1901 Wellington catalogue); purchased by Sigurdur Benediktsson of Reykjavik (had previously worked for the had previously worked for the Legation); by whom given to British Legation, Reykjavik

GAC number

2267