The Hommage Giving: Westminster Abbey, August 9th, 1902

This large painting of the Coronation of Edward VII made a particularly interesting addition to the collections of the Gallery, as, although it contained portraits of British monarchs in Coronation robes, it had hitherto none of a Coronation ceremony. The Prince of Wales is shown in the foreground, and Queen Alexandra is seated to the right. Bacon, a leading figure in English Edwardian painting, established himself as a genre painter with a naturalistic style, but turned to portraiture around 1900, gaining considerable success with his male portraits. In this painting he depicts a moving moment of the Coronation, as the elderly Archbishop of Canterbury has difficulty in rising, and the King takes him by the right hand to help him to rise.