Lawrence was the most fashionable and also the greatest portraitist of his generation. He was made Principal Painter to George III in 1792 after Reynolds’s death, and received occasional commissions; however it was only after 1814 that George IV began to employ him in earnest. This portrait was commissioned by George IV at a cost of 500 guineas; it was painted between 1825 and 1829, though it remained in Lawrence's studio until his death. There are many changes to the background in this portrait which suggest that this is the first version of this famous composition and possible the painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1825. This painting would seem to have been suitable for the 'Waterloo Chamber', depicting as it does the British Foreign Secretary both during (1807) and after (1822) the Napoleonic Wars. However the Chamber itself received a three-quarter length version of this composition (RCIN 404937), perhaps because in that scheme the full-length format (seen here) was reserved for monarchs and soldiers, not politicians.