Burton, Frederic William (1816-1900)

Frederic Burton, an Irish artist, met George Eliot and George Henry Lewes in Munich in 1858. Eliot described him as an “agreeable man with a little English glazing shyness” (GEL8: 480). In the summer of 1864, Burton made several sketches of George Eliot in preparation for a finished chalk portrait, completed in 1865 and exhibited at the Royal Academy. It was one of the few images of Eliot that she and Lewes liked. Lewes hung the portrait over the mantle in their home, the Priory and, along with Eliot’s bound and inscribed manuscripts, was remembered by guests who were honored with a tour of the home. John Cross also admired this portrait, and had it reproduced as the frontispiece for his Life of George Eliot.

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

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