Brief Biography-Francis Wheatley was born in London in 1847. His father placed him in the drawing school of William Shipley of the Royal Society of Arts. After winning several awards, he studied at the Royal Academy Schools and later became the Society of Artists director. In 1779 he absconded to Dublin with the wife of the artist John Alexander Gresse to avoid his debtors. He made a successful living in Dublin with portraiture and painted his most famous work, The Irish House of Commons. However, on the disclosure of his past dalliances, Wheatly returned to London, where he excelled while emulating the works of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Wheatley painted these works in an exemplary manner, and in 1790, he was an associate of the Royal Academy and an Academician a year later. Unfortunately, he remained in debt during the last decade of his life and was in poor health. Francis Wheatley died in London in 1801.