, 1825 Eastlake was born in
Plymouth,
Devon, the fourth son of an
Admiralty lawyer. He was educated at local grammar schools in Plymouth, including
Plymouth Grammar School, and, briefly, at
Charterhouse (then still in London). He was committed to becoming a painter, and in 1809 he became the first pupil of
Benjamin Haydon and a student at the
Royal Academy schools in London—where he later exhibited. However, his first exhibited work was shown at the British Institution in 1815, a year in which he also visited Paris and studied works in the
Louvre (then known as the
Musée Napoléon). His first notable success was a painting of
Napoleon on the Bellerophon (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. He sketched him from the boat. 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. He also travelled to
Naples and
Athens. 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. Three years later, he returned to England permanently where he continued to paint historical and biblical paintings set in
Mediterranean landscapes. While he had been abroad his 1827 painting ''
Lord Byron's Dream'' was exhibited at the 1829 Royal Academy summer exhibition. , London As an art historian, he translated
Goethe's
Zur Farbenlehre (
Theory of Colours, 1840). He edited with extensive and valuable notes the 'Handbuch der Geschichte der Malerei
(Handbook of the History of Painting) by
Franz Kugler, which in its first English version was translated by 'A Lady', Mrs. Margaret Hutton. These publications and Eastlake's reputation as an artist led to his nomination in 1841 to become secretary of the
Fine Arts Commission, the body in charge of government art patronage. He set up home in
Fitzroy Square. In his
On Vision and Colours, § 14,
Schopenhauer praised Eastlake's translation of Goethe. Having already advised the
National Gallery, London on acquisitions, he was appointed the Gallery's second Keeper in 1843, a post he later resigned "in consequence of an unfortunate purchase that roused much animadversion, a portrait erroneously ascribed to Holbein". In 1855 he returned as the first director, "with more extended powers". In 1849, he married
Elizabeth Rigby, an art historian and translator of German art histories. Together they formed a formidable art history writing partnership. In 1845, he was elected into the
National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. From 1850 to 1865, he was the second president of the
Birmingham Society of Artists. Elected president of the Royal Academy and knighted in 1850, he became a notable figure in the British art establishment. He was appointed the first president of the
Photographic Society in 1853 and the first director of the National Gallery in 1855. In 1864, the
University of Cambridge awarded him an honorary degree. ==Legacy==