Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

National Portrait Gallery
Nov 1 · 12 min read

Tom Wills was forty-four years old when he met a pointless, violent death in circumstances a far cry from the propriety and comfort of his beginnings. His death certificate gave his occupation as ‘gentleman’, yet he had for some time been subsisting on an allowance and the odd additional contribution from his brothers, and died in the rented house he shared with the woman who referred to herself as his ‘wife’ even though their partnership had never been formalised. With his domestic arrangements already the cause of shame to a…

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National Portrait Gallery

Written by

portrait.gov.au

Portrait magazine

Portrait is the preeminent journal of Australian and international portraiture.

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