Portrait of David Wilkie

Sir David Wilkie, born in Fife in 1785, became one of the most popular British artists of the early 19th century. His name was made by 'The Village Politicians', exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1806, which epitomised his gift for characterisation and the close observation of human types. One of his last works was the state portrait of Queen Victoria, also part of the Lady Lever Art Gallery collection (LL 3598). Wilkie died at sea off Gibraltar in 1841, the event which moved Turner to paint 'Peace: Burial at Sea'.