Frederick richard pickersgill biography of michael

​PICKERSGILL, FREDERICK RICHARD (1820–1900), historical painter, son of Richard Pickersgill, a naval officer, and Anne Witherington, and nephew of Henry William Pickersgill (1782–1875) [q.

v.], was born in London on 25 Sept. 1820. He received his first instruction in drawing from his maternal uncle, William Frederick Witherington (1785–1865) [q.

Frederick richard pickersgill biography of michael

v.], and entered the Royal Academy schools at an early age. In 1839 he exhibited his first picture, ‘The Brazen Age,’ a subject from Hesiod, at the Royal Academy. This was followed by ‘The Combat between Hercules and Achelous’ (1840), ‘Amoret's Deliverance from the Enchanter’ (1841), ‘Œdipus cursing his son Polynices’ (1842), and ‘Dante's Dream,’ a subject from the ‘Purgatorio,’ canto 27 (1843).

In 1843 his cartoon ‘The Death of King Lear’ gained one of the additional prizes of 100l. at the Westminster Hall competition for the decoration of the new