Lemuel Francis Abbott

Lemuel Francis Abbot was an English portrait painter, famous for his Nelson and other Naval officers and literary figures of the 18th century. A portrait of Horatio Nelson by Abbott is in The Terracotta Room at 10 Downing Street.

He was born in Leicestershire about 1760/61, the son of a Leicestershire clergyman, and became a pupil of Francis Hayman in 1775 and lived in London.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy but never became an Academician. He became insane when he was about 40 was attended by Dr. Thomas Munro (1759-1833) the chief physician to Bethlem Hospital and a specialist in mental disorders, Munro also treated the insanity of King George III (1738-1820). Abbott died in London on 5 December 1802.