Spencer Perceval (1762-1812) Prime Minister

Start Zooming
  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection
  • About the artist
    Sir William Beechey was born in Burford, Oxfordshire. After his father’s death (1789) he was raised by his uncle and initially apprenticed to a firm of solicitors. In 1772 he moved to London to enter the Royal Academy Schools. He soon married and his children include painter and explorer Henry William. From c.1782 he worked in Norwich, returning to London in 1787. Beechey was a widow by 1793, when he married miniature painter Anne Phyllis Jessop. In 1794 he became a member of the Royal Academy, received a knighthood and exhibited ‘His Majesty Reviewing the Third Dragoon Guards’, his most celebrated work. He was named portrait painter to the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Principle Portrait Painter to William IV before his death aged 85.
  • Explore
  • Details
    Title
    Spencer Perceval (1762-1812) Prime Minister
    Date
    published 1 March 1813
    Medium
    Engraving
    Acquisition
    Purchased from F B Daniell, August 1970
    GAC number
    8961