Burney met the ten-year-old Lawrence at his father’s inn, and described him as astonishing and a wonder of the age. Reynolds told him as a teenaged student to stop copying old masters and study nature. Turning his immense technical gifts to a career as a society painter, he became a friend and strong defender of Turner, who revered him, and helped carry his coffin in the snow from his funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral. Lawrence was a strong influence on his student Etty, met Géricault when he came to London to exhibit his ‘Raft of Medusa’, and helped Audubon find clients for portraits and subscribers for his bird prints.