Landseer, Sir Edwin

Landseer, Sir Edwin (Henry)

(born March 7, 1802, London, Eng.—died Oct. 1, 1873, London) British painter and sculptor. He studied with his father, an engraver and writer, and at the Royal Academy. He specialized in animals and developed great skill in depicting animal anatomy; he sometimes humanized his animal subjects to the point of sentimentality or moralizing (e.g., Dignity and Impudence, 1839). He achieved great professional and social success and was a favourite painter of Queen Victoria. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1831 and knighted in 1850. As a sculptor, he is best known for his bronze lions at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square (unveiled 1867).