Pictures Dated 29th March 2010

'The Lord Chief Baron', 1871.Artist: Coide

'The Lord Chief Baron', 1871. A caricature of Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly (1796-1880), Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Kelly was appointed solicitor-general in 1845, during the administration of Sir Robert Peel. He was also solicitor-general under Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby's administration in 1852, and was attorney-general in Lord Derby's second administration. He was raised to the bench in 1866 and appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and was sworn into the Privy Council. In 1875 he became Judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature. A print from Vanity Fair, 4 November 1871.

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Oscar WiIde, Irish writer, wit and playwright, 1882. Artist: Napoleon Sarony

Oscar WiIde, Irish writer, wit and playwright, 1882. Wilde (1854-1900) was an exponent of art for art's sake. His best known novel is The Picture of Dorian Gray. He wrote a book of children's stories, The House of Pomegranates, and a series of plays including Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, and The Importance of Being Ernest, which was believed by many to be the first modern comedy in English. Wilde was convicted of sodomy over his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas in a notorious trial, and was jailed at Reading from 1895-1897. After his release he moved to Paris and wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, protesting at the inhumane conditions in prisons at the time. He died suddenly in 1900 from meningitis.

© Fine Art Images

Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, 1970. Artist: Anon

Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, 1970. Zhukov (1896-1974) was one of the senior commanders of the Red Army in the Second World War, becoming the most decorated general in Russian and Soviet history. After the war he commanded the Russian occupation zone in Germany, but due to his popularity within the army, Stalin regarded Zhukov as a potential threat to his power and moved him to various remote and insignificant command postings. After Stalin's death in 1953, Zhukov returned to favour and was appointed Soviet defence minister in 1955, in which capacity he organised the iinvasion of Hungary to put down the uprising of 1956. He was relieved of his duties in 1957 after Nikita Khrushchev suspected him of involvement in a planned coup against his leadership. After Khrushchev was deposed in 1964 Zhukov once again returned to favour but not to political office. He is pictured holding a painting based on the famous photograph of a Russian soldier raising the Soviet flag on the Reichstag at the fall of Berlin in May 1945. Found in the collection of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, Moscow.

© Fine Art Images