The New International Encyclopædia/Knight, John Prescott

KNIGHT, (1803-81). An English portrait painter, born at Stafford. After studying privately, he entered the Royal Academy as a student in 1823, and exhibited two portraits there the following year. In 1828 his &ldquo;Whist Party&rdquo; and &ldquo;List, ye Landsmen&rdquo; were hung at the British Institution. In 1835 he appeared with &ldquo;Tam o' Shanter&rdquo; at the Royal Academy, of which he became an associate in 1836, and professor of perspective (1839-60). From such subjects as &ldquo;The Pedlar&rdquo; (1831); &ldquo;Auld Robin Gray&rdquo; (1829 and 1833); and &ldquo;Sunset&rdquo; (1834), he returned to portraits in large groups, such as the &ldquo;Waterloo Banquet&rdquo; (1842) and &ldquo;Peninsular Heroes&rdquo; (1848), as well as single portraits of the &ldquo;Duke of Wellington&rdquo; for the London City Club, &ldquo;Duke of Cambridge&rdquo; for Christ's Hospital, and &ldquo;Sir George Burrows&rdquo; for Saint Bartholomew's Hospital. He was secretary of the Royal Academy (1848-73), and exhibited there for the last time in 1878, &ldquo;A Sandy Hillside.&rdquo;