Benjamin West PRA, The Death of General Wolfe, 1 January 1776.
Line engraving. 427 mm x 590 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond.
This image is released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND
To licence this image for commercial purposes, contact our Picture Library at picturelibrary@royalacademy.org.uk
The Death of General Wolfe, 1 January 1776
After Benjamin West PRA (1738 - 1820)
RA Collection: Art
This engraving has been described as 'one of the most commercially successful prints ever published' and the income it generated was the foundation of the fortune made by Alderman Boydell as a print publisher (see Helmut von Erffa and Allen Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, 1986, p.213).
The original painting, which is now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (with a later version at Ickworth House, Suffolk), was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771 and purchased by Lord Grosvenor in the same year. King George III declined to buy it on the grounds that showing 'heroes in coats, breeches and cock'd hats' impaired the dignity of the subject. However, West's innovation of depicting the figures in contemporary dress was generally considered to be groundbreaking and helped to make both the painting and the subsequent engraving famous.
Object details
427 mm x 590 mm
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