Benjamin Robert Haydon
Benjamin Robert Haydon [1]
An English historical painter, born at Plymouth; studied at the Royal Academy, and in 1807 exhibited "Joseph and Mary resting on the Road to Egypt"; two years later occurred his memorable split with the Royal Academy over a supposed slight to his picture, "Dentatus"; "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem" brought him £1700 by exhibition, and his "Judgment of Solomon," considered his finest work, sold for 700 guineas; despite large sums obtained for "The Mock Election," "The Reform Banquet," &c., he was continually in debt, and his high-strung, sensitive temperament, smarting under imaginary slights and weary of unrealised ambitions, led him to commit suicide by shooting himself in his studio; he was an artist of great but unequal genius; he was fascinated with the Elgin Marbles, and the admiration he expressed for them contributed to persuade the Government to purchase them (1786-1846).
