Sir Robert Peel: Patron of The Arts
“The son of a cotton millionaire scouring the auction rooms of Europe and building lavishly in the latest architectural style,” the Tory leader was a highly representative early nineteenth-century figure. By J. Mordaunt Crook.
Sir Robert Peel’s political career has tended to overshadow his activity as a patron of the arts. In the fashionable art world of the Regency and early Victorian periods Peel is very much a representative figure: the son of a cotton millionaire scouring the auction rooms of Europe and building lavishly in the latest architectural style.
His political pre-eminence makes him a symbol of the nouveaux riches absorbed into the “plebeian aristocracy of Mr. Pitt”. His status as a connoisseur acts as an index of contemporary fashion. In estimating his significance as a patron, we find ourselves catching a glimpse of the taste of at least one section of his colleagues and followers, the rising industrial magnates.
Politics drew Peel naturally towards institutional forms of patronage. For many years he was closely associated with the Royal Academy and stoutly defended its policies against Radical criticism in the Commons. It was Peel’s intervention in 1830 that prevented George IV’s nomination of an amateur as President in succession to Sir Thomas Lawrence.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.