John Julius Angerstein
Detail from Sir Thomas Lawrence: 'John Julius Angerstein Aged 55', about 1790
Over his lifetime Angerstein acquired a series of Old Master paintings which went on to form the cornerstone of the National Gallery's collection.
Biography
The merchant and philanphropist John Julius Angerstein was born in St Petersburg in 1735 to a German family who had settled in Russia. He emigrated to England in about 1749.
Powerful friends
Over time he became friends with many of the most prominent men of the day. This list included
- King George III
- William Pitt the Younger (Prime Minister)
- Nelson (naval hero)
- Samuel Johnson (writer)
- David Garrick (actor and playwright)
Artist friends included Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Sir Thomas Lawrence who considered Angerstein a father-figure. Angerstein was a patron to Lawrence and David Wilkie among others.
Private wealth
He amassed a fortune partly from income generated by his large slave estates in Grenada and partly from a career in the City of London. He helped to develop Lloyd’s as a great insurance house, becoming its chairman between 1790 and 1796.
Next: Philanthropy
The Angerstein Collection
The Raising of Lazarus
Sebastiano del Piombo
A Concert
Imitator of Titian
Saint John the Baptist seated in the Wilderness
Circle of Annibale Carracci
Portrait of Pope Julius II
Raphael
Susannah and the Elders
Ludovico Carracci
Landscape with Abraham and Isaac
Gaspard Dughet
The Rape of Ganymede
Attributed to Damiano Mazza
Venus and Adonis
Workshop of Titian
Landscape with a Storm
Gaspard Dughet
Group of Heads
After Correggio
The Rape of the Sabine Women
Peter Paul Rubens
See also
From the 1820s to the present day- History of the Gallery buildings
- List of previous Directors of the National Gallery and brief history of the role.
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN