John Keats, the Romanic poet, sits half-length with a notebook on a red table cloth, his head in his hand gazing to the distance. He is presented as an isolated, poetic genius. Keats trained as an apothecary and surgeon. He entered Guy’s Hospital as a student on 1st October 1815, having already spent five years training with an apothecary. He was soon promoted to the role of 'dresser' on 29th October 1815, assisting surgeons during operations. He received his apothecary licence in 1816, enabling him to practise, before deciding to dedicate himself to poetry. This painting is a copy by Robert Swan of a painting of Keats by William Hilton (NPG 194) , which is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. The painting by William Hilton is itself an adaption of a miniature painting by Joseph Severn, one version is in the NPG (NPG 1605) and another dated to about 1822 in the Fitzwilliam Museum.