Reverend John Jennings

Reverend John Jennings was among the hundreds of members of the first Reformed Parliament whom Hayter sketched individually for his monumental group portrait. This preparatory study, now in the Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth, captures a lesser-known figure whose parliamentary career was brief but whose face was preserved for posterity by Hayter’s ambitious documentary project. George Hayter was the preeminent British history and portrait painter of the early Victorian era, appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1841.

The preparatory sketch shows Hayter’s ability to capture a likeness with minimal means—a few well-placed strokes define the clergyman’s features against an unfinished background.