Denis Dighton (1792 – 8 August 1827) was an English

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, best known for his military portraits and battle scenes.

Life

Denis Dighton was the son of the caricaturist Robert Dighton and a younger brother was Richard Dighton. He enrolled as a student of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in 1807 and exhibited 17 pictures there between 1811 and 1825. He enjoyed the patronage of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, who had been a close friend of his mother. Through the influence of the prince, he received a commission in the army in 1811, however, he soon returned to civilian life. By 1814 he had received the title of Military Painter to H.R.H. the Prince Regent. The prince sent Dighton to the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the ...

just before the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

, and seems to have bought all his exhibited pictures. Dighton visited the Waterloo battlefield five days after the victory and executed nine paintings of the battle. He fell from royal favour when his intermediary with the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

, Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, lost his place in the royal household, to be replaced by Sir William Knighton. After this loss of patronage, Dighton became mentally ill; he moved with his wife and son to Brittany, where he lived supported by the Artists' Benevolent Fund until his death at the age of 35 on 8 August 1827. Dighton is mostly known for his paintings of battle scenes especially depicting the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

and Waterloo; he also painted a scene of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

being shot at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. He married a sister of

Augustus Earle Augustus Earle (1793–1838) was a British painter. Unlike earlier artists who worked outside Europe and were employed on voyages of exploration or worked abroad for wealthy, often aristocratic patrons, Earle was able to operate quite indepen ...

, Phoebe Earle, herself a working artist and exhibitor at the Royal Academy who became Flower Painter in Ordinary to Queen Adelaide, in 1812 and they had two sons.

Paintings

* ''The Storming of San Sebastian on the 31st of August'' (1814 -

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

, Leith Hall) * ''Battle of Orthes'' (1815 - Marquess of Anglesey) * ''The Battle of Waterloo'' (1816 - Marquess of Anglesey) * ''Waterloo - Charge of the Second Brigade of Cavalry'' (1817)''The Battle of Waterloo: The charge of the 2nd Brigade of cavalry''

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

* ''Battle of Waterloo'' (attributed) * ''Greeks and Turks. Defeat of the Turks in the Defile of Klissura'' (1823 - Private Collection)

Works about

* Carman, William Y., "The Battle of Waterloo by Denis Dighton," ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol. XLIII, No. 174, June 1965, pp. 55–59. * Harrington, Peter. (1993). ''British Artists and War: The Face of Battle in Paintings and Prints, 1700-1914.'' London: Greenhill

References

External links

nmm.ac.uk Short Biography at the National Maritime Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dighton, Denis 1792 births 1827 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters English war artists 19th-century English male artists