The Death of the Earl of Chatham [SEP] creator
The Death of the Earl of Chatham
The Death of the Earl of Chatham is the title of a 1781 oil-on-canvas painting by Boston-born American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the collapse of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham on 7 April 1778, during a debate in the House of Lords on the American War of Independence. Chatham is surrounded by peers of the realm, and the painting contains fifty-five portraits.
Copley's painting is a visual record of the appearance of the
the Manchester exhibition, 1862, was "pronounced by competent critics to be equal to any, in the same style, by Vandyck". But the artist's fame as a historical painter was made by "The Death of the Earl of Chatham" showing the collapse in the House of Lords of the former Prime Minister William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The painting, however, brought him denunciation from Sir William Chambers, president of the Royal Academy, who objected to its being exhibited privately in advance of the Academy