From the exhibition
'The Baron' — Sir Charles Lennox Wyke
Carlo Pellegrini · Vanity Fair, 9 February 1884. Chromolithograph by Carlo Pellegrini ('Ape').

Pellegrini renders Sir Charles Lennox Wyke — diplomat, former minister to Mexico and Japan — in strict profile, a pose that flattens and anatomizes simultaneously. The figure is squat and barrel-chested beneath a frock coat, topped by a silk hat that adds ironic elevation. A furled umbrella hangs across one forearm like a sceptre of minor consequence. The white walrus moustache, heavy nose, and jutting chin are exaggerated in Pellegrini's characteristic manner: affectionate but merciless. The caption 'the Baron' signals a courtesy title worn with self-satisfaction rather than inherited grandeur. The plate's comedy is social — the career diplomat reduced to club-land ornament, his imperial postings now mere footnotes to a comfortable London retirement.
Carlo Pellegrini CC0