Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A. (1769-1830): PORTRAIT OF ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD CODRINGTON, GCB (1770-1851)

Three-quarter length, wearing uniform and the Star and Sash of the Order of the Bath as well
as the Naval General Service medal, the Russian Order of Saint George, the French Grand
Cross of Saint Louis and other decorations
Oil on canvas
76.2 by 63.5 cm., 30 by 25in.

Provenance:
By descent in the family of the sitter

Exhibited:
London, British Institution, 1830, no.81 (lent by Sir E. Codrington);
London, South Kensington, National Portraits Exhibition, 1868, no.333 (lent by Sir W.J.
Codrington)
Literature:
Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1900, p.119;
Sir Walter Armstrong, Lawrence, 1913, p.122;
Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1954, p.57;
Richard Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, 1973, p.110;
Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Oil Paintings, 1989,
p.170, no.198

Engraving:
Charles Turner (mezzotint) 1830

Painted soon after the Battle of Navarino, circa 1828, this characterful portrait of Admiral Codrington depicts the bravura skill and confident brushwork of Lawrence’s later years. The
decade 1820-30 was a time when Lawrence’s career was at its height. He had been appointed as President of the Royal Academy in 1820 and, throughout the decade, he
received a regular flow of commissions for portraits of the Prime Minister, the King and members of the royal family. As he wrote to his sister, Ann, in 1825 “I have never painted
better”.

The sitter was the son of Edward Codrington (1732-1775) and his wife, Anne Sturgeon. He entered the Royal Navy in 1783 and fought at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794.
In 1805 he took command of HMS Orion, which was attached to Admiral Nelson’s fleet and he subsequently fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in October of that year. In 1814 he became
Captain of the Fleet to Sir Alexander Cochrane, who was in charge of naval operations against the Americans. He was eventually promoted to Vice Admiral in 1821 and in December 1826
was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet.

Codrington played a fundamental role during the Greek Wars of Independence and, at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, he successfully commanded a combined British, French and
Russian fleet against the Turkish and Egyptian fleet. He was subsequently awarded the Russian Order of Saint George (second class), the French Grand Cross of Saint Louis, both of
which he wears prominently in this portrait. The depiction of these orders helps to date the portrait to 1828, probably very shortly after Codrington’s return to England on 7th October.
Codrington also subsequently received the Gold Cross of the Redeemer of a newly independent Greece.

SOLD IN 2025 TO THE MUSEUM OF PHILHELLENISM IN ATHENS