Editing Thomas Lawrence (section)

=== "Pictorial chronicler of the Regency" ===
[[File:Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Lawrence)|Portrait of the Duke of Wellington]]'' in 1815, later used on the [[Bank of England £5 note|Five Pound Note]]]]

By the time the Prince of Wales was made regent in 1811, Lawrence was acknowledged as the country's foremost portrait painter. Through one of his sitters, [[Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry|Lord Charles Stewart]] who he [[Portrait of Sir Charles Stewart|painted in Hussar uniform]], he met the Prince Regent who became his most important patron. As well as portraits of himself, the prince commissioned portraits of allied leaders [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|the Duke of Wellington]], [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|Field-Marshal von Blücher]] and [[Matvei Platov|Count Platov]], who sat for Lawrence at his new house at 65 Russell Square. (The house was demolished in the early 20th century to make way for the Imperial Hotel.) ''The private sitting-room of Sir Thomas Lawrence'' shows Lawrence at 65 Russell Square, surrounded by casts of classical sculpture.<ref>Levey 2005: 174-175, 190</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?mkey=mw195502&LinkID=mp02654&role=sit&rNo=9 |title=The Private Sitting Room of Sir Thomas Lawrence |work=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>  The prince also had plans for Lawrence to travel abroad and paint foreign royalty and leaders, and as a preliminary he was given a [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]] on 22 April 1815. Napoleon's return from [[Elba]] put these plans on hold, although Lawrence did make a visit to Paris, where his friend Lord Charles Stewart was ambassador, and saw the art that Napoleon had looted from Italy, including Raphael's ''[[Transfiguration (Raphael)|Transfiguration]]'', the painting he had reproduced for his silver-gilt palette as a boy.<ref>Levey 2005: 198</ref>

[[File:Sir Thomas Lawrence - Pope Pius VII (1742-1823) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|Lawrence painted a ''[[Portrait of Pope Pius VII (Lawrence)|Portrait of Pope Pius VII]]'' in Rome in 1819]]
In 1817 the prince commissioned Lawrence to paint a portrait of his daughter [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817)|Princess Charlotte]], who was pregnant with her first child. Charlotte died in childbirth; Lawrence completed the portrait and presented it to her husband [[Leopold I of Belgium|Prince Leopold]] at [[Claremont (country house)|Claremont]] on his birthday, as agreed. The princess's obstetrician, [[Sir Richard Croft, 6th Baronet|Sir Richard Croft]], who later shot himself, was the half-brother of Lawrence's friend Elizabeth Croft, and for her Lawrence drew a sketch of Croft in his coffin.<ref>Levey 2005: 201–203</ref>

Eventually, in September 1818, Lawrence was able to make his postponed trip to the continent to paint the allied leaders, first at [[Aachen]] and then at the conference of Vienna, for what would become [[the Waterloo Chamber]] series, housed in [[Windsor Castle]]. His sitters included [[Alexander I of Russia|Tsar Alexander]], [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Francis I of Austria]], the [[Frederick William III of Prussia|King of Prussia]], [[Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg|Field-Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg]], [[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen|Archduke Charles of Austria]] and Henriette his wife, Lady Selina Caroline, wife of the [[Clam-Martinic|Count of Clam-Martinic]] and a young [[Napoleon II]], as well as various French and Prussian ministers. In May 1819, still under orders from the Prince Regent, he left Vienna for Rome to paint [[Pope Pius VII]] and [[Ercole Consalvi|Cardinal Consalvi]].<ref>Levey 2005: 207–238</ref>