ON THE STAIRCASE. SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE. 208. Portrait of Sir Jeffrey Wyattville, Architect. Three-quarters, seated, with a plan on the table before him, and Windsor in the distance. He was born in Staffordshire in 1766: his father, two of his uncles, and others of his family, were architects; his uncle, James Wyatt, had been favourite architect to George III., and under royal direction had perpetrated sundry alterations and additions in and about Windsor Castle, remarkable for their vile taste and total want of fitness and propriety. In the year 1824 Jeffrey Wyatt was called upon to make designs for the entire restoration of the Castle in a uniform style of grandeur. His designs were approved and adopted; and on the commencement of the new works, in August 1824, he received the royal permission to change his name from Wyatt to Wyattville, partly as a compliment and partly to distinguish him from others of his family of the same profession. He carried on the works for fifteen years, with the concurrent approbation of the Sovereign and the public; and having lived to see them completed, died Feb. 18, 1840, and was buried in St. George's Chapel. Engraved by H. Robinson. |