Portrait by Artist to Come
The 27 years during which America awakened to its need for independence — debated it, declared it, struggled for it, and ratified and effected its Constitution — were bookended by the end of one global conflict and the beginning of another.
In Europe the 1763 Peace of Paris concluded the Seven Years War, sometimes called the first true world war. It was a conflict that involved all of the major European countries, and once again pitted Great Britain against France for global dominance. In 1789, with the storming of the Bastille, the French Revolution began — influenced by the American Revolution, but begun for lack of bread. It would lead to mass executions of its own people, the rise of Napoleon to general and emperor, millions killed elsewhere, and once more a face-off between France and Britain.
Artists
- David, Jacques-Louis (1748—1825)
- Gainsborough, Thomas (1727—88)
- Goya, Francisco de (1746—1828)
- Houdon, Jean-Antoine (1741—1828)
- Reynolds, Joshua (1723—92)
- Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (1696—1770)
Explorers and Inventors
- Arkwright, Richard (1733—92)
- Blanchard, Jean-Pierre (1753—1809)
- Boulton, Matthew (1728—1809)
- Bramah, Joseph (1748—1814)
- Broadwood, John (1732—1812)
- Bruce, James (1730—94)
- Cartwright, Edmund (1743—1823)
- Cook, James (1728—79)
- d'Abbans, Marquis de Jouffroy (1751—1832)
- Érard, Sébastien (1752—1831)
- Meikle, Andrew (1719—1811)
- Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel (1740—1810)
& Jacques-Étienne (1745—99) - Watt, James (1736—1819)
Musicians
- Bach, Johann Christian (1735—82)
- Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770—1827)
- Gluck, Christoph Willibald (1714—87)
- Haydn, Joseph (1732—1809)
- Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756—91)
Philosophers
- Bentham, Jeremy (1748—1832)
- Diderot, Denis (1713—84)
- Herder, Gottfried (1744—1803)
- Hume, David (1711—76)
- Kant, Immanuel (1724—1804)
- Mendelssohn, Moses (1729—86)
- Rousseau, Jean Jacques (1712—78)
- Smith, Adam (1723—90)
- Voltaire (1694—1778)
Rulers
- George III (1738 – 1820); King, 1760—1820
England
- Louis XV (1710 – 74); King, 1715—74
- Louis XVI (1754—93); King, 1774—92 • Marie Antoinette (1755—93); Queen, 1774—92
France
- Maria Theresa (1717—80); Empress, 1740—80
- Joseph II (1741—90); Emperor, 1780—90; Holy Roman Emperor, 1765—90
Habsburg Empire (including Austria & Hungary)
- Frederick II (
the Great,
1712—86); King, 1740—86 - Frederick William II (1744—97); King, 1786—97
Prussia
- Charles III (1716—88); King, 1759—88
Spain
- Catherine II (
the Great
1729—96); Empress, 1762—96
Russia
- Clement XIII (1693—1769); Pope, 1758—69
- Clement XIV (1705—74); Pope, 1769—74
- Pius VI (1717 – 99); Pope, 1775—99
Vatican
Scientists & Mathematicians
- Atwood, George (1745—1807)
- Buffon, comte de (1707—88)
- Galvani, Luigi (1737—98)
- Herschel, Frederick William (1738—1822)
- Jussieu, Antoine Laurent de (1748—1836)
- Klaproth, Martin Heinrich (1743—1817)
- Lavoisier, Antoine (1743—94)
- Mesmer, Franz (1734—1815)
- Priestly, Joseph (1733—1804)
- Rutherford, Daniel (1749—1819)
Writers
- Beaumarchais, Pierre (1732—99)
- Blake, William (1757—1827)
- Boswell, James (1740—95)
- Burney, Fanny (1752—1840)
- Burns, Robert (1759—96)
- Gibbon, Edward (1737—94)
- Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749—1842)
- Goldsmith, Oliver (1728—74)
- Gray, Thomas 1716—71)
- Johnson, Samuel (1709—84)
- Laclos, Pierre Choderlos de (1741—1803)
- Sade, Marquis de (1740—1814)
- Schiller, Friedrich (1759- 1805)
- Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (1751—1816)
- Sterne, Laurence (1713—67)
- Walpole, Horace (1717—97)