Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/157



EARLOM,, engraver. He is said to have been born in 1728, in Somersetshire, and to have died in 1794. He is mentioned both by Joubert and Basan as distinct from the foregoing Richard Earldom.

EAST,, die engraver. He was a pupil of Thomas Simon, the great medallist. He was appointed engraver of the seals to James II., and practised in London in the latter half of the 17th century.

EASTLAKE, Sir, P.R.A., historical painter. He was the son of a lawyer of good standing at Plymouth, who filled the office of judge advocate and solicitor to the Admiralty, and was born in that town November 17, 1793. He commenced his education at the Borough Grammar School, and was then removed to the Charter House, where he acquired a sound education. While here he made up his mind to be a painter, and wrote a boyish but grave letter to his father explaining his fixed intentions, which were probably influenced by the career Haydon was then entering upon. He had received some early instructions from Prout, and in 1809 became a student in the Academy Schools, where he worked industriously; attended Sir Charles Bell's anatomical lectures, and early cultivated a sound judgment. Supported by an adequate allowance from his father, he visited Paris, where he studied industriously for some months. He then settled at Plymouth, where he painted some portraits, and when the deposed Emperor Napoleon was brought into port there on board the 'Bellerophon,'he managed to paint a portrait of him, surrounded by his officers, which gained him notice, and by its sale assisted him in 1816 to set off for Italy and to extend his tour to Greece. Taking Malta and Sicily on his way home, he returned after nearly twelve months' absence.

After only a temporary stay at Plymouth, he visited the Low Countries and Germany, and then went again to Rome, purposing only to make a short stay; but more and more attracted by the love of Italian art, and the facilities for study, from time to time protracting his stay, he continued there about 12 years. In 1823 he sent from Rome his first contribution, comprising three views in that city, to the Academy Exhibition; in 1825, 'A Girl of Albano leading a Blind Woman to Mass,' and at once made himself known. In his next work, exhibited in 1827, aiming at the highest style in art, he represented 'The Spartan Isadas rushing undraped from the Bath to meet the Enemy,' and was elected the same year an associate of the Academy. This was followed in 1828 by another important work 'Pilgrims arriving in sight of Rome,' which, with slight alterations, he repeated several times. In 1829 he exhibited 'Byron's Dream;' in 1830, 'Una delivering the Red Cross Knight;' and in this and some works that followed he aimed to attain a richer style in his colour. In 1830 he was elected a full member of the Academy. During his long residence at Rome he had become used to the customs of the city, and had always been received into the best society; but on his election a feeling of duty to his colleagues induced him, though with great reluctance, to return to England, and in the following year he had settled in London, and exhibited two Italian subjects, with, his 'Haïdée, a Greek Girl.' In 1833 his 'Greek Fugitives' was his principal work; and in 1834, 'The Escape of Francesco di Ferrara,' with 'The Martyr' and some portraits. He was at this time, and for the next few years, entirely devoted to his art, painting chiefly Italian subjects, with a few portraits. In 1839 he exhibited his 'Christ blessing little Children,' and in 1841, 'Christ weeping over Jerusalem.' But he was now led to undertake some public employments of high responsibility, but of great interest and utility in the cause of art, for which his varied acquirements, good judgment, and kindly impartiality rendered him peculiarly well fitted.

He was, in 1841, appointed secretary to the Royal Commission for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament; in 1842, the librarian of the Royal-Academy; in 1843, keeper of the National Gallery; and in 1850 he was elected the president of the Royal Academy and received the honour of knighthood. He had been subjected to some groundless attacks, and had resigned his appointment at the National Gallery in 1847; but on the reorganisation of the management of that Institution in 1855, he was appointed to the newly-created office of director, with an annual salary of 1,000l. In fulfilling this invidious trust, he year by year journeyed on the Continent to acquire pictures, and added 139 to the Gallery, including many fine works of the early Italian school. While occupied with these onerous engagements, and with his literary works and investigations on the principles of his art, he had little thought or leisure for its practice. He exhibited in 1850 a replica of his 'Escape of Francesco di Ferrara', which combines some of the finest qualities of his art, and has happily found a place in the National Gallery. In the following years he contributed only three unimportant works, and after 1855 did not again exhibit.

His constitution had long been weakly, and broke down at Pisa, where he died December 24, 1865. His body was brought to England. A public funeral, which the Royal 136