Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), facing right in scarlet uniform with gold braided collar, wearing the ribbon and jewel of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the badge of the Peninsular Gold Cross and the star and badge of the Royal Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword

Isabey painted Wellington on several occasions, mainly between 1816 and 1818 (see notably his portraits of the Duke in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, and in the Wallace Collection). Nevertheless, their relation had not always been friendly. When Isabey was finishing his famous drawing of the participants of the Vienna Congress, 'it had been decided that the General should take part in the Congress, and I was obliged to add him to my composition. I had, as a matter of fact, already received a visit from the English conqueror on the occasion of the visit of the Allies to Paris. He came to my studio and treated me to a manner so unceremonious and British that I was obliged to refuse flatly the honour of painting his august features. When he realised that I found him rude, he came again accompanied by the Duchess de Santa Cruz, and I consented to paint his portrait after all. At Vienna I found him most gracious.' (M. W. Osmond, Jean Baptiste Isabey, the Fortunate Painter, London, 1947, p. 136).