85 



BENJAMIN MARSHALL. 



(Born 1767. Died 1835.) 



O ENJAMIN MARSHALL was born in Leices- 

 *^ tershire in the year 1 767. Like many other 

 artists who made their names as painters of animals, 

 he began as a portrait painter, and until twenty-six 

 years of age confined himself to this department 

 of art under the tuition of F, L. Abbott. As might 

 be expected of a Leicestershire man, he had a taste 

 for sport, but does not appear to have weighed the 

 propriety of lending his brush to animal portraiture 

 until in 1793 he saw at the Royal Academy exhibi- 

 tion Saurey Gilpin's exquisite painting " The Death 

 of the Fox." This picture made a great impression 

 upon him, and though he did not renounce portrai- 

 ture altogether, he thenceforward devoted by far 

 the greater portion of his time to the study of animal 

 life, and more especially to horses and dogs in their 

 relation to sport. 



Marshall was at this time residing in Beaumont 

 Street, Marylebone ; and in turning his attention 

 to the school of Art, in which he had so many 

 brilliant contemporaries, he was no doubt influenced 



