Romantics & Revolutionaries: Regency Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery London

by National Portrait Gallery London, David Crane

This book brings an engaging cast of Regency characters vividly to life through a vigorous combination of words and pictures. Biographical sketches accompany portraits from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery with the whole introduced by an original and thought-provoking essay from Richard Holmes. Together they illustrate all the diversity and exuberance of Regency England - its triumphs, dramas, paradoxes, successes and excesses. It was a period of seismic political change, of revolutionary scientific discovery, of towering artistic achievement, of military triumph and of social scandal. From American Independence to the shocking trial of Queen Caroline, from vaccination to the Battle of Waterloo, from Don Juan to the Abolition of slavery, this book offers a fascinating portrait of a thrilling period in British history.

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2006

About the author

The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people.

When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery.

The National Portrait Gallery in London is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. .

Reviews

[R E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful, breezy visual and written summary of the Regency that has evident racial, ableist, and heterosexist biases.

This 2002 book of portraits in the National Gallery/London is a handy summary of Regency era movers, shakers, and creators. It contains 67 full color reproductions, most of which are full page, along with 3-4 paragraphs on the life, importance, and ideas attached to the person shown each portrait. So, it can also be read as a summary of some of the major socio-political, philosophical, aesthetic, religious, and scientific issues of the day, albeit from a "50,000 foot view." BUT...

While informative, the written summaries can at times come across as a bit too "posher than thou," having a hint of sniffing arrogance about them as the authors talk down to the general public. Add to this the heterosexist and ableist bias (Byron, bisexual? And disabled? Never, we can't condone mentioning those things) and it's Caucasian-centrism (thank heavens those White Christians came to the aid of African slaves), and the book has all the qualities showing "the dangers of a single story" (see Chimamanda Adichie/TEDtalk).

The quality of the reproductions in the paperback version, which I bought, were fair, at best. I'm keeping the book for general reference, but I wouldn't pay full price for a new one.