Gross Mismanagement and Extravagance
Orford is particularly remembered for his 1778 sale of his grandfather's magnificent art collection to Catherine the Great. It now forms part of the core of the collection at The Hermitage in St Petersburg.
Orford intended his sale of the pictures to have taken place in secrecy but his plan soon leaked out and became of intense interest to the public. The trustees of the British Museum petitioned parliament for their purchase and the erection of a new building in the grounds of the British Museum. The eventual sale to the Empress of Russia was regarded as a national calamity.
204 paintings were received in St Petersburg, some were sold during the 1930s and 126 pictures now remain at The Hermitage.
Read more about this topic: George Walpole, 3rd Earl Of Orford
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