HILTON, WILLIAM, R.A., was born at Lincoln on the 3rd of June 17S6. His father, who was a portrait painter and a native of Newark, died in 1822. Hilton was placed with J. R. Smith, tho en graver, in London, in 1800: be obtained about the same time admis sion into the Royal Academy as a student, and in 1803 he exhibited at the Academy-exhibition a picture of banditti, of remarkable merit for so young a man. In 1804 he exhibited ' Hector Reinapired by Apollo • ' and in 1SOG 'Cephalus and Procris.' These early works were by a series of compositions, in a superior style of exe cution and treatment. However, neither his subjects nor his style were popular, and he had to witness the success of very inferior artists, while his own works remained on his hands. In 1814 Hilton exhibited 4 Miranda and Ferdinand bearing a Log ; ' and he was elected an asso ciate of the Academy in the same year. He was elected an academician in 1820, when he exhibited his picture of which he pre sented to the Academy as his diploma piece. In 1825 he exhibited his Christ Crowned with Thorns.' Two years afterwards he succeeded Fuseli as keeper of the Academy, a post which he held until his death on the 30th of December 1839, in his fifty-fourth year.
Hilton died in possession of his best pictures—' The Angel Releas ing St. Petcr from Prison ;" Serena Rescued by Sir Calepine ; ' Comus ;' 4 The Murder of the Innocents,' exhibited in 1838, the last work exhi bited by Hilton ; ' Amphitrite ; ' ' Una with the Lion Entering Corceca's Cave ; ' and Rizpah Watching the Dead Bodies of Saul's Sans ' (nu finished). Sir Calepine Rescuing Serena, exhibited in 1831, was purchased by subscription from Hilton's executors, for 500 guineas, and was preseuted to the National Gallery ; but in consequence of an unfortunate selection of the vehicle in which it was painted, por tions of the surface have become displaced, and the picture is, for the present at least, withdrawn from exhibition ; it was however far from being the best of Hilton's works. 'Una Entering the Cave of Corceca,'
exhibited in 1832, was engraved by W. H. Watt for the Art Union of London, and distributed among the subscribers of 1842. St. Peter Delivered out of Prison by the Angel,' of which the figures are of the size of life, exhibited in 1831, was purchased by William Bishop of Plymouth. Two capital works by Hilton—' Rebecca with Abraham's Servant at the Well,' exhibited in 1829; and 'Edith and the Monks Searching for the Body of Harold,' exhibited in 1834, form a portion of the collection which Mr. Vernon presented to the nation. The following also are among Hilton's best works Nature Blowing Bubbles,' in the possession of Sir John Swinburne, Bart. ; 'Jacob Parting from Benjamin,' purchased by W. Wells, Esq.; The Graces teaching Cupid to play on the Lyre; the property of tSir George Phillips, Bart. ; Cupid Sailing on his Quiver;' Cupid and a Nymph The Rape of Europa,' painted for the late Earl of Egremont, of which there is a print by Charles Heath; and the ' Infant Warrior,' from Shakspere, exhibited in 1836. The greater part of the above-men tioned works were exhibited with the works of old masters at the British Institution iu 1840.
Hilton ranks high among the painters of his own country, up to his own age ; but his glory will diminish as the sphere of comparison is extended. He was not a great painter ; his energy was not extraor dinary, nor was his invention exuberant, and his drawing is often incorrect or exaggerated, but his colouring is harmonious and rich, and his taste in composition and design was refined and manly.