Hon. Lionel Tennyson

Oscar Gustaf Rejlander (1813-1875)

1862-63

Albumen print

7 1/8 in. x 5 1/2 in. (180 mm x 139 mm) overall

© National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG P2011(57))

Purchased with help from the Art Fund, Jane and Michael Wilson and Stephen Barry, 2015

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Alfred Lord Tennyson's second son is seen here with a dreamy expression. He was rather nervous and not very strong as a boy (see Thorn 370), and Rejlander has caught his sensitivity well. Lionel Tennyson would eventually contract a fever when working for the India Office, dying on the voyage back from India in 1886, to his parents' great grief. — Jacqueline Banerjee