Haydn in London

John Hoppner's Portrait of the Composer

This unfinished portrait of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was painted by John Hoppner in late 1791, during the first of the composer’s two very successful (and lucrative) visits to London.

The portrait was commissioned by the Prince of Wales, who later appointed Hoppner as his Principal Portrait Painter (he had more than one?). In a letter, Haydn descri…