George IV 1763-1830

Portrait/X367

George IV 1763-1830

From the studio of Sir Francis Chantrey

The head turned to the right; plump face, thick curly hair, clean-shaven; the eyes not incised; round the shoulders a drapery, gathered at his right shoulder with a lion-head clasp.

<p>A bust of this type was exhibited by Chantrey at the Royal Academy in 1822 replicas or versions exist: e.g. in the Royal Collection; at Christ Church, Oxford; at the Royal Academy; and at the Royal College of Surgeons; the original marble is perhaps the bust of 1822 at Chatsworth. The plaster model is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and related drawings are in the National Portrait Gallery.</p>

English

Presented in 1825 by H.M. King George IV, at the opening of the College in Pall Mall East

Marble bust, 34 inches high, on a circular socle

George IV was not a Fellow of the College. However, his physician, Sir Henry Halford, was elected President in 1820. At this time, the College was still in Warwick Lane, in a neighbourhood which had gone down considerably, and the buildings had become increasingly dilapidated. A move towards the West End of London and to better buildings was therefore urgently needed, and it was largely due to Halford's influence as royal physician that a grant of land in Pall Mall East was obtained from the Crown. (The original lease was extended by Queen Victoria in 1864.) The new college was ceremonially opened in June, 1825, with a Latin oration delivered by Halford to a distinguished company which included many royal dukes. George IV was not present, but he gave the bust to mark the occasion.