Within a few years, Copley had the necessary skills to undertake huge pictures of events from recent history. On 7 April 1778, William Pitt, the 1st Earl of Chatham, rose to speak in London's House of Lords. In the midst of a debate about the colonial revolutionaries, Pitt suffered a stroke and died one month later. His death removed one of Britain's leading political moderates during the critical years of the American War of Independence. This small oil painting is Copley's preliminary compositional sketch for his large canvas now in the Tate Gallery, London.
Sunbeams pour through a roundel window over the throne canopy, spotlighting the stricken Pitt.
Following proper academic procedure, Copley first used browns and grays to work out the overall distribution of the scene before considering the color scheme and details. How Copley had managed to persuade fifty-five noblemen to sit for their portraits became the talk of British society.