In the midst of debate about the colonial revolutionaries, he suffered a stroke. The earl's 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 a large canvas now in the Tate Gallery, London. In 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.
Sunshine pours in from a roundel window over the throne canopy, spotlighting the stricken Pitt.
How Copley had persuaded fifty-five noblemen to sit for their portraits became the talk of British society.