The Centre Block, part of the complex of parliamentary buildings on Parliament Hill in Canada's capital, Ottawa, hosts a gallery of portraits of present and former Canadian monarchs, former Prime Ministers of Canada, and other figures.
History
The collection of portraits of Canada's monarchs originated with the acquiring of a state portrait of Queen Victoria for the parliament buildings of the Province of Canada in Montreal in 1849. As successive monarchs came to the throne, their portraits were added to the gallery. However, it was not until Senator Serge Joyal took on the personal project of amassing portraits of monarchs prior to Victoria that the collection came closer to completion, including the Kings of France since Francis I.
The prime minister's portrait gallery dates back to 1890, when John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada, assisted in the unveiling of his own portrait. At first, the works were commissioned by friends and colleagues, made by the artist's own initiative, and then donated to the Crown Collection. A century later, a more systematic approach was implemented, and the artist is now chosen by the prime minister, although Curatorial Services provide suggerences and assistance on the choice.
The portraits are viewed by over 400,000 people a year.
Works
Paintings of French monarchs
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francis I | After Titien | c. 1820 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis XIII | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1630 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis XIV | Hyacinthe Rigaud | c. 1700 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis XV | Charles-André van Loo | c. 1740 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of British monarchs
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| George III | Joshua Reynolds | 1779 | Oil on canvas |
| George IV | Thomas Lawrence | 1822 | Oil on canvas |
| William IV | Frederick Christian Lewis | 1831 | Engraving |
| Victoria | John Partridge | 1842 | Oil on canvas |
| Edward VII | Luke Fildes | 1903 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of Canadian monarchs
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| George V | Luke Fildes | 1913 | Oil on canvas |
| Edward VIII | Carl Vandyk | 1936 | Photolithograph |
| George VI | Robert Swain | 1955 | Oil on canvas |
| Elizabeth II | Lilias Torrance Newton | 1957 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of prime ministers
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| John A. Macdonald | Henry Sandham | 1889 | Oil on canvas |
| Alexander Mackenzie | John Wycliffe Lowes Forster | 1897 | Oil on canvas |
| John Abbott | Muli Tang | 2002 | Oil on canvas |
| John Sparrow David Thompson | John Wycliffe Lowes Forster | 1897 | Oil on canvas |
| Mackenzie Bowell | Joanne Tod | 2002 | Oil on canvas |
| Charles Tupper | Victor Albert Long | 1896 | Oil on canvas |
| Wilfrid Laurier | John Wentworth Russell | 1919 | Oil on canvas |
| Robert Borden | Kenneth Keith Forbes | 1947 | Oil on canvas |
| Arthur Meighen | Ernest Fosbery | 1948 | Oil on canvas |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | Frank Owen Salisbury | 1945 | Oil on canvas |
| Richard Bedford Bennett | Kenneth Keith Forbes | 1962 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis St. Laurent | Audrey Watts McNaughton | 1958 | Oil on canvas |
| John Diefenbaker | Cleeve Horne | 1968 | Oil on canvas |
| Lester B. Pearson | Hugh Seaforth Mackenzie | 1968 | Tempera on masonite |
| Pierre Trudeau | Myfanwy Spencer Pavelic | 1991 | Acrylic on canvas |
| Joe Clark | Patrick Douglass Cox | 2008 | |
| John Turner | Brenda Bury | 1999 | Oil on canvas |
| Brian Mulroney | Igor V. Babailov | 2002 | Oil on canvas |
| Kim Campbell | David Goatley | 2004 | Oil on canvas |
| Jean Chrétien | Christian Nicholson | 2010 | Oil on canvas |
| Paul Martin | Paul Wyse | 2016 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of Speakers of the House of Assembly of the Province of Lower Canada
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Antoine Panet | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1856 | Oil on canvas |
| Michel Chartier de Lotbinière | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis-Joseph Papineau | Alfred Boisseau | 1881 | Oil on canvas |
Speakers of the House of Assembly of the Province of Upper Canada
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| David William Smith | Théophile Hamel | 1859 | Oil on canvas |
| Alexander Macdonell | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
| Levius Peters Sherwood | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
| John Willson | Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
| Marshall Spring Bidwell | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
| Archibald McLean | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
| Sir Allan Napier MacNab | Théophile Hamel | 1853 | Oil on canvas |
| Henry Ruttan | Théophile Hamel | 1856 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Cuvillier | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1856 | Oil on canvas |
| Augustin-Norbert Morin | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
| John Sandfield Macdonald | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis-Victor Sicotte | Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
| Henry Smith | William Sawyer | 1869 | Oil on canvas |
| Joseph-Édouard Turcotte | Théophile Hamel | 1865 | Oil on canvas |
| Lewis Wallbridge | William Sawyer | 1873 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of Speakers of the House of Commons
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Cockburn | George Theodore Berthon | 1872 | Oil on canvas |
| Timothy Anglin | John Colin Forbes | 1878 | Oil on canvas |
| Joseph-Godéric Blanchet | John Colin Forbes | c. 1880 | Oil on canvas |
| George Airey Kirkpatrick | Frances E. Richards Rowley | 1887 | Oil on canvas |
| Joseph-Aldric Ouimet | René Émile Quentin | 1889 | Oil on canvas |
| Peter White | Robert Harris | 1894 | Oil on canvas |
| James David Edgar | Alphonse Jongers | c. 1899 | Oil on canvas |
| Thomas Bain | John Colin Forbes | c. 1900 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis-Philippe Brodeur | Ozias Leduc | 1904 | Oil on canvas |
| Napoléon Belcourt | Charles Ignace Adélard Gill | c. 1905 | Oil on canvas |
| Robert Franklin Sutherland | John Wycliffe Lowes Forster | c. 1906 | Oil on canvas |
| Charles Marcil | Ulric Lamarche | 1912 | Oil on canvas |
| Thomas Simpson Sproule | John Colin Forbes | c. 1913 | Oil on canvas |
| Albert Sévigny | Charles Huot | c. 1918 | Oil on canvas |
| Edgar Nelson Rhodes | Sir Edmund Wyly Grier | 1921 | Oil on canvas |
| Rodolphe Lemieux | Jacqueline Comerre Paton | c. 1924 | Oil on canvas |
| George Black | Kenneth Keith Forbes | 1934 | Oil on canvas |
| James Langstaff Bowman | Kenneth Keith Forbes | c. 1935 | Oil on canvas |
| Pierre-François Casgrain | Kenneth Keith Forbes | c. 1940 | Oil on canvas |
| James Allison Glen | Kenneth Keith Forbes | c. 1945 | Oil on canvas |
| Gaspard Fauteux | Kenneth Keith Forbes | 1946 | Oil on canvas |
| William Ross Macdonald | Lilias Torrance Newton | 1951 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis-René Beaudoin | Kenneth Keith Forbes | 1960 | Oil on canvas |
| Roland Michener | Cleeve Horne | 1962 | Oil on canvas |
| Marcel Lambert | Kenneth Keith Forbes | 1963 | Oil on canvas |
| Alan Macnaughton | Lilias Torrance Newton | c. 1964 | Oil on canvas |
| Lucien Lamoureux | Suraj Sadan | 1977 | Oil on canvas |
| James Jerome | Robert Stewart Hyndman | 1979 | Oil on canvas |
| Jeanne Sauvé | Brenda Bury | 1984 | Oil on canvas |
| Cyril Lloyd Francis | Anita Elizabeth Kertzer | 1987 | Oil on canvas |
| John Bosley | Shirley Van Dusen | 1993 | Oil on canvas |
| John Allen Fraser | Gregory Furmanczyk | 1994 | Oil on canvas |
| Gilbert Parent | David Goatley | 2001 | Oil on canvas |
| Peter Milliken | Paul Wyse | 2012 | Oil on canvas |
| Andrew Scheer | Juan Carlos Martínez | 2018 | Oil on canvas |
Paintings of the Fathers of Confederation
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fathers of Confederation | Rex Woods | 1968 | Oil on canvas |
| George-Étienne Cartier | Juliette de Lavoye | c. 1965 | Watercolour on ivory / Glass; velvet; walnut |
| Thomas D'Arcy McGee | Bruce Mitchell | 1957 | Oil on canvas |
| George Brown | Juliette de Lavoye | c. 1965 | Watercolour on ivory; Glass; velvet; walnut |
Paintings of historic events and people
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Royal Visit, 1939 | Frank Owen Salisbury | 1941 | Oil on canvas |
| Opening of Parliament in the 19th Century | William Harvey Sadd | 1901 | Oil on canvas |
| Discovery of Canada by Jacques Cartier | Copy by Augustine Leriverend after Ferdinand Perrot (1840) | Oil on canvas | |
| Major General James Wolfe | Copy by Théophile Hamel | c. 1865 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis-Joseph de Montcalm | Copy by Théophile Hamel | c. 1865 | Oil on canvas |
| George Prevost | Copy by Théophile Hamel after Robert Field (c. 1808) | 1864 | Oil on canvas |
| Amerigo Vespucci | Copy by Antoine Sébastien Falardeau | 1857 | Oil on canvas |
| Christopher Columbus | Copy by Antoine Sébastien Falardeau | 1853 | Oil on canvas |
Sculptures
| Title/Subject | Public Office | Artist | Date Painted/Created | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Harold Baker | Member of Parliament | Robert Tait McKenzie | 1923 | Bronze |
| Robert Borden | Prime Minister | Alfred Laliberté | 1915 | Marble |
| Robert Borden | Prime Minister | Lionel Gooch Fosbery | 1927 | Plaster, painted |
| Ellen Fairclough | First Woman Cabinet Minister | Elizabeth M. Bradford Holbrook | 1959 | Bronze |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | Prime Minister | Avard Tennyson Fairbanks | 1943 | Bronze |
| Wilfrid Laurier | Prime Minister | Lionel Gooch Fosbery | 1938 | Plaster, painted |
| Alexander Mackenzie | Prime Minister | Cléophas Soucy | 1943 | Plaster, painted |
| Agnes Macphail | First woman elected to the House of Commons | Felix Weihs de Weldon | 1939 | Bronze |
| Roland Michener | Governor General, Speaker of the House of Commons | Kenneth Jarvis | 1982 | Bronze |
| Louis St. Laurent | Prime Minister, Member of Parliament | Ernest Richard Gause | 1954 | Bronze |
| J. S. Woodsworth | Leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, Member of Parliament | Cléophas Soucy | 1946 | Plaster, painted |
| John George Bourinot | Clerk of the House of Commons | Roland Beauchamp | 1949 | Bronze |
| Adam Dollard des Ormeaux | colonist and soldier in Ville Marie, New France | Alfred Laliberté | 1923 (c. 1911-1915) | Bronze |
| La France | Auguste Rodin | 1921 (1904) | Bronze |
Notes
- Also a Father of Confederation
- Also sat as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
- Also the former Joint-Premier of the United Provinces of Canada
References
- Clerk of the Senate. "Canada: A Constitutional Monarchy > Victoria". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- Clerk of the Senate. "Canada: A Constitutional Monarchy > Francois I". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- ^ Clerk of the House of Commons. "Fine Arts > Prime Ministers' Portrait Gallery". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
| Parliament Hill | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parliament of Canada |  | |
| Centre Block | ||
| Monuments | ||
| Parliamentary Precinct | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||