8 of 12 portraits of Thomas Paine
by and published by William Sharp, after George Romney
engraving, published 20 April 1793
9 1/2 in. x 7 3/4 in. (240 mm x 198 mm) paper size
Bequeathed by (Frederick) Leverton Harris, 1927
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Events of 1793back to top
Current affairsWhig MP Charles Grey enters a motion for parliamentary reform but is defeated in the House of Commons.
Art and scienceRadical philosopher William Godwin publishes Political Justice, an inflamatory document that promoted rational anarchism. This crystallised a wider feeling that a new era of world peace and progress was beginning.
Sir William Beechey is appointed Portrait Painter to her Majesty, Queen Charlotte.
InternationalLouis XVI and Marie-Antoinette are executed and the Reign of Terror begins.
France declares war on Britain, Holland and then Spain. William Pitt addresses the House of Commons and Britain hesitantly joins the first coalition of anti-revolutionary European states to oppose the French threat.
Attack on Corsica in which Captain Horatio Nelson loses an eye.