Richard Burton

Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) was a phenomenon. One "of the rarest personalities seen on earth", he trailed through the century like a "blaze of light". A true Renaissance man, he was an explorer, diplomat, swordsman, scholar, poet, writer, linguist, translator, archaeologist, anthropologist, sexologist and husband. A pioneer explorer of East Africa, he discovered Lake Tanganyika and took part in the search for the source of the Nile. Burton undertook the monumental translation of The Arabian Nights, the infamous Kama Sutra and the controversial The Perfumed Garden.

The life and work of the Burtons have been examined at the gallery in the exhibitions Sir Richard Burton (1990); Lady Burton's Gift to the Nation (1998) and In Focus: Burton's Photographs (2001). The collection also features extensively in The Artist's Journey (1999).

Miniature portraits of Isabel and Richard Burton.

The courtship and marriage of Richard and Isabel is the stuff of fairy tales or legend. The match was prophesised by the Romany Princess Hagar Burton in 1845; "Your life is all wandering, change and adventure. One soul in two bodies in life or death, never long apart...". Richard and Isabel briefly met in Boulogne in 1851, where Isabel announced to her sister: "That man will marry me". Five years later they encountered one another in Kensington Gardens. After a fortnight of clandestine meetings he proposed, asking her to consider before giving a reply. She declared: "I don't want to think it over - I have been thinking it over for five years... and would rather have a crust than a tent with you than be queen of all the world". Isabel's parents were against the match. The couple were married in secret on 22 January 1861, the ceremony commemorated by this portrait. Despite time apart, the couple had a strong and loving marriage.

When Richard died in 1890, it was the last happy day of Isabel's life.

Sir Richard Burton's Sitting Room in Trieste reflects Burton's nomadic nature, with several souvenirs of his travels taking pride of place, including a mounted leopard skin.

Portrait of Richard Burton.