Robert Vernon (art patron)

Vernon was a self-made man, a jobmaster, posting contractor, and dealer in horses in London in a large way. He amassed a fortune as contractor for the supply of horses to the British armies during the Napoleonic wars.[1]

Between 1820 and 1847 Vernon collected about 200 pictures by living British artists, with a few by other European painters. On 22 December 1847 he presented a selection of 157 pictures from his collection to the nation. This collection was housed at first in Marlborough House; it was moved to the South Kensington Museum, and in 1876 to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It was subsequently split between the National Gallery and Tate Gallery.[1] He also intended to give money in his will to support art and artists. In the event Leicester Viney Smith inherited from the unmarried Vernon, changing his surname to do so.[2]

Vernon was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He died at his house in Pall Mall, London on 22 May 1849, and was buried at Ardington, Berkshire, where he owned property.[1]

One item of particular interest in the Vernon collection is the Vernon Mona Lisa, a painting of the same subject as the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, and which has at times been claimed to also have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci, as a second version of the work in the Louvre.[3] The Vernon Mona Lisa is particularly interesting in this regard because it was itself originally part of the collection at the Louvre.