bantarleton: On this day, 1815, a special edition of the official Govt paper of record, The Gazette,
bantarleton: On this day, 1815, a special edition of the official Govt paper of record, The Gazette, was printed in London. It contained the full text of Wellington’s dispatch from Waterloo, with the first details of the allied victory over Napoleon. The Duke later commissioned David Wilkie to paint this scene, with a group of The Chelsea Pensioners reading aloud the news outside a Chelsea pub, with the Royal Hospital in the background. It is one of the best known paintings in the Wellington Collection at Apsley. The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch, originally entitled Chelsea Pensioners Receiving the London Gazette Extraordinary of Thursday, June 22, 1815, Announcing the Battle of Waterloo, is an oil painting by David Wilkie, commissioned by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in August 1816.It was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1822, where it was so popular that a rail was installed to protect it from the thronging crowds. This was the first time that a rail was needed at the Royal Academy exhibition. The painting was retained by the Duke of Wellington and his descendants, and it is displayed at Apsley House.The painting’s focus on ordinary people made a significant impression on Théodore Géricault when he viewed the unfinished work in Wilkie’s studio in the spring of 1821, and on its second showing at the Royal Institution. It was also seen by Eugène Delacroix and Richard Parkes Bonington.Sir David Wilkie RA (18 November 1785 – 1 June 1841) was a Scottish painter, especially known for his genre scenes. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical scenes, portraits, including formal royal ones, and scenes from his travels to Europe and the Middle East. His main base was in London, but he died and was buried at sea, off Gibraltar, returning from his first trip to the Middle East. He was sometimes known as the “people’s painter”.He was Principal Painter in Ordinary to King William IV and Queen Victoria. Apart from royal portraits, his best-known painting today is probably The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch of 1822 in Apsley House. -- source link
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