William Salter (artist)

William Salter
Born	1804 Honiton
Died	1875 (aged 70–71) London
Nationality	British
Known for	Portrait painting
Notable work	The Waterloo Banquet

William Salter (1804 – 22 December 1875) was an English portrait painter of the 19th century. His best known work was a painting of 83 people at a banquet in 1836 organised by the Duke of Wellington to celebrate their victory at the Battle of Waterloo. The painting is called the The Waterloo Banquet 1836 and today is at Apsley House.

Salter was born in 1804 (baptised on 26 December 1804) and educated in Honiton, Devon. He was able to work in James Northcote's studios from 1822. Five years later he went on a Grand Tour to Italy. Unlike other grand tourers Salter took up employment as a professor at Florentine Academy of Fine Arts. Salter taught History Painting until 1833 when he returned to England.

His most famous work is The Waterloo Banquet (1836) in Apsley House, which depicts a commemorative banquet held by the Duke of Wellington at Apsley House on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in 1836.

The story is that Salter was on his horse in Hyde Park on 18 June when he happened to hear and then see the banquet in progress at the Duke of Wellington's house at Hyde Park Corner. He was so intrigued by the spectacle that he approached his patron with a proposal for a painting to capture the scene. His patron Lady Berghersh consented to approach the Duke with the proposal. The Duke was immediately against the idea as he considered Salter's immaturity would not be up to the complexity of the painting Salter was proposing. Lady Berghersh was the Duke's niece and she and the Duke were close and kept up a correspondence for many years. The Duke was persuaded and he gave Salter access to the room and ornaments so that he could get their likenesses.

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