ABSTRACT
Wesley’s death in 1791 resulted in many published prints memorialising him. Wesley was seen as embodying stability and religious morality against political uncertainty, war and economic hardship in subsequent decades: images should be considered in that context. Since the print business was increasingly integral to the production of portraits the two are examined together. As Methodism grew and fragmented, the Wesley image became totemic and changed subtly from his actual short, slight physique into a larger, stronger persona, evident in paintings by John Renton, John Jackson and (in the twentieth century) Frank Salisbury. After posthumous images, prints of Wesley in his lifetime are covered. Wesley’s public ministry coincided not only with the ‘golden age of the English portrait’ but advances in print technology, and the availability (and affordability) of prints of images.
