Portrait of William Murray, Earl of Mansfield c. 1783

John Singleton Copley sketched this portrait of William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, using graphite on paper. Mansfield, a prominent 18th-century Lord Chief Justice of England, occupied a crucial position within the British legal system. Copley, an Anglo-American painter, renders Mansfield in his judicial robes, alluding to his authority and status. Consider the historical context: this portrait was produced during a period of significant legal and social change, including debates about slavery and colonial governance. Mansfield himself presided over cases that shaped legal precedents, and the sketch gives us a sense of the institutional power he embodied. Understanding this drawing requires delving into the records of the courts, and the biographies of legal figures, which provides insight into the complex relationship between law, power, and representation in 18th-century Britain. The meaning of the art is found in the institutional context.