Lord Tennyson, No. 2

Art Historical Context

This 1903 mezzotint by British printmaker Frank Short captures a dignified portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the celebrated Victorian Poet Laureate. Short worked after an original painting by George Frederic Watts, a leading figure in the Symbolist movement known for his profound, introspective portraits of eminent Victorians. The resulting print preserves the contemplative gaze and flowing beard that became iconic in Tennyson’s later years, offering viewers a sense of quiet authority. Mezzotint, the medium chosen here, was especially prized in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuri...