The Centre Block, part of the complex of parliamentary buildings on Parliament Hill in Canada's capital, Ottawa, hosts a gallery of portraits of present and former Canadian monarchs, former Prime Ministers of Canada, and other figures.

History The collection of portraits of Canada's monarchs originated with the acquiring of a state portrait of Queen Victoria for the parliament buildings of the Province of Canada in Montreal in 1849. As successive monarchs came to the throne, their portraits were added to the gallery. However, it was not until Senator Serge Joyal took on the personal project of amassing portraits of monarchs prior to Victoria that the collection came closer to completion, including the Kings of France since Francis I.

The prime minister's portrait gallery dates back to 1890, when John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada, assisted in the unveiling of his own portrait. At first, the works were commissioned by friends and colleagues, made by the artist's own initiative, and then donated to the Crown Collection. A century later, a more systematic approach was implemented, and the artist is now chosen by the prime minister, although Curatorial Services provide suggerences and assistance on the choice.

The portraits are viewed by over 400,000 people a year.

Works

Paintings of French monarchs Title/subject Artist Date created Medium Francis I After Titien c. 1820 Oil on canvas Louis XIII Philippe de Champaigne c. 1630 Oil on canvas Louis XIV Hyacinthe Rigaud c. 1700 Oil on canvas Louis XV Charles-André van Loo c. 1740 Oil on canvas

Paintings of British monarchs Title/subject Artist Date created Medium George III Joshua Reynolds 1779 Oil on canvas George IV Thomas Lawrence 1822 Oil on canvas William IV Frederick Christian Lewis 1831 Engraving Victoria John Partridge 1842 Oil on canvas Edward VII Luke Fildes 1903 Oil on canvas

Paintings of Canadian monarchs Title/subject Artist Date created Medium George V Luke Fildes 1913 Oil on canvas Edward VIII Carl Vandyk 1936 Photolithograph George VI Robert Swain 1955 Oil on canvas Elizabeth II Lilias Torrance Newton 1957 Oil on canvas

Paintings of prime ministers Title/subject Artist Date created Medium John A. Macdonald Henry Sandham 1889 Oil on canvas Alexander Mackenzie John Wycliffe Lowes Forster 1897 Oil on canvas John Abbott Muli Tang 2002 Oil on canvas John Sparrow David Thompson John Wycliffe Lowes Forster 1897 Oil on canvas Mackenzie Bowell Joanne Tod 2002 Oil on canvas Charles Tupper Victor Albert Long 1896 Oil on canvas Wilfrid Laurier John Wentworth Russell 1919 Oil on canvas Robert Borden Kenneth Keith Forbes 1947 Oil on canvas Arthur Meighen Ernest Fosbery 1948 Oil on canvas William Lyon Mackenzie King Frank Owen Salisbury 1945 Oil on canvas Richard Bedford Bennett Kenneth Keith Forbes 1962 Oil on canvas Louis St. Laurent Audrey Watts McNaughton 1958 Oil on canvas John Diefenbaker Cleeve Horne 1968 Oil on canvas Lester B. Pearson Hugh Seaforth Mackenzie 1968 Tempera on masonite Pierre Trudeau Myfanwy Spencer Pavelic 1991 Acrylic on canvas Joe Clark Patrick Douglass Cox 2008 Tempera John Turner Brenda Bury 1999 Oil on canvas Brian Mulroney Igor V. Babailov 2002 Oil on canvas Kim Campbell David Goatley 2004 Oil on canvas Jean Chrétien Christian Nicholson 2010 Oil on canvas Paul MartinPaul Wyse2016Oil on canvasStephen HarperPhil Richards2026 Acrylic on canvas

Paintings of Speakers of the House of Assembly of the Province of Lower Canada Title/subject Artist Date created Medium Jean-Antoine Panet Copy by Théophile Hamel 1856 Oil on canvas Michel Chartier de Lotbinière Copy by Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas Louis-Joseph Papineau Alfred Boisseau 1881 Oil on canvas

Speakers of the House of Assembly of the Province of Upper Canada Title/subject Artist Date created Medium David William Smith Théophile Hamel 1859 Oil on canvas Alexander Macdonell Copy by Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas Levius Peters Sherwood Copy by Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas John Willson Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas Marshall Spring Bidwell Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas Archibald McLean Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas Sir Allan Napier MacNab Théophile Hamel 1853 Oil on canvas Henry Ruttan Théophile Hamel 1856 Oil on canvas

Paintings of Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada Title/subject Artist Date created Medium Austin Cuvillier Copy by Théophile Hamel 1856 Oil on canvas Augustin-Norbert Morin Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas John Sandfield Macdonald Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas Louis-Victor Sicotte Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas Henry Smith William Sawyer 1869 Oil on canvas Joseph-Édouard Turcotte Théophile Hamel 1865 Oil on canvas Lewis Wallbridge William Sawyer 1873 Oil on canvas

Paintings of Speakers of the House of Commons Title/subject Artist Date created Medium James Cockburn George Theodore Berthon 1872 Oil on canvas Timothy Anglin John Colin Forbes 1878 Oil on canvas Joseph-Godéric Blanchet John Colin Forbes c. 1880 Oil on canvas George Airey Kirkpatrick Frances E. Richards Rowley 1887 Oil on canvas Joseph-Aldric Ouimet René Émile Quentin 1889 Oil on canvas Peter White Robert Harris 1894 Oil on canvas James David Edgar Alphonse Jongers c. 1899 Oil on canvas Thomas Bain John Colin Forbes c. 1900 Oil on canvas Louis-Philippe Brodeur Ozias Leduc 1904 Oil on canvas Napoléon Belcourt Charles Ignace Adélard Gill c. 1905 Oil on canvas Robert Franklin Sutherland John Wycliffe Lowes Forster c. 1906 Oil on canvas Charles Marcil Ulric Lamarche 1912 Oil on canvas Thomas Simpson Sproule John Colin Forbes c. 1913 Oil on canvas Albert Sévigny Charles Huot c. 1918 Oil on canvas Edgar Nelson Rhodes Sir Edmund Wyly Grier 1921 Oil on canvas Rodolphe Lemieux Jacqueline Comerre Paton c. 1924 Oil on canvas George Black Kenneth Keith Forbes 1934 Oil on canvas James Langstaff Bowman Kenneth Keith Forbes c. 1935 Oil on canvas Pierre-François Casgrain Kenneth Keith Forbes c. 1940 Oil on canvas James Allison Glen Kenneth Keith Forbes c. 1945 Oil on canvas Gaspard Fauteux Kenneth Keith Forbes 1946 Oil on canvas William Ross Macdonald Lilias Torrance Newton 1951 Oil on canvas Louis-René Beaudoin Kenneth Keith Forbes 1960 Oil on canvas Roland Michener Cleeve Horne 1962 Oil on canvas Marcel Lambert Kenneth Keith Forbes 1963 Oil on canvas Alan Macnaughton Lilias Torrance Newton c. 1964 Oil on canvas Lucien Lamoureux Suraj Sadan 1977 Oil on canvas James Jerome Robert Stewart Hyndman 1979 Oil on canvas Jeanne Sauvé Brenda Bury 1984 Oil on canvas Cyril Lloyd Francis Anita Elizabeth Kertzer 1987 Oil on canvas John Bosley Shirley Van Dusen 1993 Oil on canvas John Allen Fraser Gregory Furmanczyk 1994 Oil on canvas Gilbert Parent David Goatley 2001 Oil on canvasPeter Milliken Paul Wyse 2012Oil on canvasAndrew Scheer Juan Carlos Martínez 2018Oil on canvas

Paintings of the Fathers of Confederation Title/subject Artist Date created Medium The Fathers of Confederation Rex Woods 1968 Oil on canvas George-Étienne Cartier Juliette de Lavoye c. 1965 Watercolour on ivory / Glass; velvet; walnut Thomas D'Arcy McGee Bruce Mitchell 1957 Oil on canvas George Brown Juliette de Lavoye c. 1965 Watercolour on ivory; Glass; velvet; walnut

Paintings of historic events and people Title/subject Artist Date created Medium The Royal Visit, 1939 Frank Owen Salisbury 1941 Oil on canvas Opening of Parliament in the 19th Century William Harvey Sadd 1901 Oil on canvas Discovery of Canada by Jacques Cartier Copy by Augustine Leriverend after Ferdinand Perrot (1840) Oil on canvas Major General James Wolfe Copy by Théophile Hamel c. 1865 Oil on canvas Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Copy by Théophile Hamel c. 1865 Oil on canvas George Prevost Copy by Théophile Hamel after Robert Field (c. 1808) 1864 Oil on canvas Amerigo Vespucci Copy by Antoine Sébastien Falardeau 1857 Oil on canvas Christopher Columbus Copy by Antoine Sébastien Falardeau 1853 Oil on canvas

Sculptures

Title/Subject Public Office Artist Date Painted/Created Medium George Harold Baker Member of Parliament Robert Tait McKenzie 1923 Bronze Robert Borden Prime Minister Alfred Laliberté 1915 Marble Robert Borden Prime Minister Lionel Gooch Fosbery 1927 Plaster, painted Ellen Fairclough First Woman Cabinet Minister Elizabeth M. Bradford Holbrook 1959 Bronze William Lyon Mackenzie King Prime Minister Avard Tennyson Fairbanks 1943 Bronze Wilfrid Laurier Prime Minister Lionel Gooch Fosbery 1938 Plaster, painted Alexander Mackenzie Prime Minister Cléophas Soucy 1943 Plaster, painted Agnes Macphail First woman elected to the House of Commons Felix Weihs de Weldon 1939 Bronze Roland Michener Governor General, Speaker of the House of Commons Kenneth Jarvis 1982 Bronze Louis St. Laurent Prime Minister, Member of Parliament Ernest Richard Gause 1954 Bronze J. S. Woodsworth Leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, Member of Parliament Cléophas Soucy 1946 Plaster, painted John George Bourinot Clerk of the House of Commons Roland Beauchamp 1949 Bronze Adam Dollard des Ormeaux colonist and soldier in Ville Marie, New France Alfred Laliberté 1923 (c. 1911–1915) Bronze La France Auguste Rodin 1921 (1904) Bronze

Notes

References