Richard Rothwell (painter)

[1] When Lawrence died in 1830, Rothwell completed many of his unfinished works and was poised to become the next foremost portrait painter in Britain and Ireland.

[1] According to Leoneé Ormond's biographical article in the Grove Dictionary of Art, Rothwell "was at the height of his powers from 1829 to 1831"; he "was much influenced by Lawrence, but he lacked the incisiveness and flair of his master".

[2] Rothwell lived and exhibited works in Ireland, the United States, London, and Italy, but he never again achieved the same level of popularity he had reached in the late 1820s.

Joseph Severn, who painted a portrait of the Romantic poet John Keats, arranged for Rothwell's funeral and tomb in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome.

[2] According to Fintan Cullen's biographical entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Rothwell's "portraits are highly accomplished" and "fine examples" include those of novelist Gerald Griffin and Mary Shelley.