Charles Lock Eastlake

Sir Charles Lock Eastlake PRA (17 November 1793 – 24 December 1865) was a British painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century.

His first notable success was a painting Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon in Plymouth Sound (1815; National Maritime Museum, London).

Like many other people at the time, Eastlake had hired a boat to take him to the ship on which Napoleon was held in Plymouth harbour.

In 1816, he travelled to Rome where he painted members of the British elite staying in Italy including fellow artists Sir Thomas Lawrence and J. M. W. Turner.

Despite being based predominantly in mainland Europe, Eastlake regularly sent works back to London to be exhibited, and in 1827 he was elected a member of the Royal Academy.

Lady Eastlake sold her husband's art history book collection to the Gallery's library.