William Pitt the Elder
William Hoare British
Sitter William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham British
Not on view
In 1737 William Hoare returned to England from studies in Rome and settled in the spa town of Bath. That gave him access to leading patrons without having to compete with Sir Joshua Reynolds and Allan Ramsay, who dominated the London portrait market. He made this lively chalk drawing of William Pitt when the latter was forty-seven and had temporarily abandoned politics and retired to Bath to nurse his recurrent gout. Hoare posed his sitter carefully, underplaying his prominent nose and dressing him as a prosperous gentleman. Rapid strokes of chalk suggest a velvet jacket and simple white neck-stock while delicate touches around the brows and eyes convey concentrated intelligence. Two years after the portrait was made, Pitt was elevated to Secretary of State and leader of the House of Commons and in those positions guided Britain to success in the Seven Years’ War.
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