It s been dividing opinion ever since it was first exhibited in 1825.
The poet William Wordsworth described The Red Boy as a wretched histrionic thing – and there have been plenty more who have deplored what they saw as the painting s sentimentality.
But to others Sir Thomas Lawrence s portrait is a masterpiece of technique, praised by one 19th century critic as showing the sparkling intelligence of youth .
Soon visitors to the National Gallery will be able to make their own minds up about a work that been featured on countless boxes of shortbread and toffee.
The poet William Wordsworth described The Red Boy as a wretched histrionic thing – and there have been plenty more who have deplored what they saw as the painting s sentimentality
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