Mozart &
Material Culture

Souvenirs

Artist. Stubbs was largely self-taught. From 1745-1753 he worked in York as a portrait painter and after several years in Italy moved to London in 1759. In addition to his portraits and historical pictures, he was particularly well known for his paintings of animals; he exhibited at the Society of Artists of Great Britain from 1761-1776 and from 1775 was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts. 

George Stubbs, Self-Portrait, 1780

George Stubbs, Self-Portrait, 1780

Mozart Relevance

The zebra painted by Stubbs, the first zebra seen in England, was brought from South Africa in 1762 as a gift for Queen Charlotte. The Mozarts’ acquaintance with it is documented in a diary that Nannerl Mozart kept in London: ‘. . . I saw the park and a young elephant, and a donkey that had white and coffee-brown stripes that were so clear that no one could paint them better.’

George Stubbs, Zebra, 1763 (Yale Center for British Art)

George Stubbs, Zebra, 1763 (Yale Center for British Art)

Date 1
1724, Liverpool
Date 2
1806, London
Date (Mozart)
1764-65
Location (Mozart)
London
Bibliographic Reference
Egerton, 2007; Templeton, 2016