Portrait of Henry Addington | |
Medium: | Oil on canvas |
Museum: | National Portrait Gallery |
City: | London |
Portrait of Henry Addington is an 1803 portrait painting by the English artist William Beechey depicting the then British prime minister Henry Addington.
Addington succeeded William Pitt the Younger in 1801. Following the breakdown over the Peace of Amiens he led Britain in the early Napoleonic Wars and was faced with a threatened French invasion. In 1804 he was replaced by Pitt who returned to the premiership. In 1805 Addington rejoined the government and was made Viscount Sidmouth. From 1812 to 1822 he served as Home Secretary.
Beechey, a member of the Royal Academy, was a prominent portraitist of the Regency era. Today the work is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London having been acquired in 1985.[1]