The Life and Legacy of Lemuel Francis Abbott In the vibrant landscape of late eighteenth-century English portraiture, few names resonate with the same historical intimacy as Lemuel Francis Abbott. Born in Leicestershire to a clergyman, Abbott’s journey into the heart of the London art scene began remarkably early. At just fourteen years of age, he entered the studio of Francis Hayman, a formative apprenticeship that planted the seeds of his future mastery. Though the death of his mentor briefly drew him back to his family in Leicestershire, the pull of the capital was irresistible. It was wi…