John Russell

One of the eighteenth century's leading pastel portraitists. He was a deeply religious man who converted to Methodism in 1764. His diaries, kept throughout his life, record his concerns for his own spiritual welfare. He refused to work on Sundays or to go out to dinner, afraid of the blasphemous conversation he might hear. He numbered many evangelical preachers among his sitters including Rowland Hill. In 1770 Russell turned from oils to pastel, using grey or blue paper and smudging before accenting with black chalk.

Text © National Portrait Gallery, London