Brief Biography-John Opie was born in Cornwall in 1761. By age twelve, he was a prodigy in mathematics, and his father wanted him to be a carpenter. Opie came to the attention of the writer John Wolcott who became his patron and mentor. Wolcott brought him to London, where he encountered Sir Joshua Reynolds, and King George III, who commissioned portraits. He subsequently was patronised by the nobility of the day and enjoyed considerable success as a leading portraitist. He eventually became a member of the Royal Academy in 1788 and was a professor in 1806. On his death in 1807, he was laid to rest in Saint Paul’s Cathedral.