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Notes
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A very large portrait showing Lord Lewin, full-length, wearing the uniform of Admiral of the Fleet. It was commissioned in 1995 to commemorate Lord Lewin's period as Chairman of the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum, 1987–1995 and it reflects on the Admiral's long and distinguished service in the Royal Navy from 1939, as well as his 50-year association with the College. He is positioned in the Painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich, the main ceiling of which was decorated by Sir James Thornhill in 1707–1712, symbolising the triumph of Peace and Liberty over Tyranny. The artist commented that ‘there could be no doubt that the Admiral should be shown standing in the Painted Hall in the Royal Naval College, just above the spot where Nelson had been laid after Trafalgar'.
The work gains its effect from the relation of the figure to the picture space and the painter's intentional manipulation of perspective, which reflects Thornhill's painting of nearly two centuries earlier. Wonnacott also draws attention to the Baroque splendour of the Hall in the detailing of the ceiling and gilding. He places an emphasis on the use of gold and counterbalances the gold braid of the uniform with a vivid use of colour, particularly red and blue. The monumentality draws attention to the stature of the individual depicted and the importance of the building. The painting is therefore an evocation of history, tradition, nationhood and a glorious Naval past as well as of the reflections of one man and his history, on a more personal level. One foot in the painting the other in our space as we move towards him, Lewin is shown in reflective mood and the portrait invites awareness of his own career as it marks the end of his long association with Greenwich, and on the end of Greenwich's 300-year direct association with the Navy.
Title
Admiral of the Fleet Terence Thornton Lewin (1920–1999), Baron Lewin of Greenwich, KG, GCB, LVO, DSC
Date
1995–1998
Medium
oil on board
Measurements
H 335.2 x W 199 cm
Accession number
ZBA0731
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
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