Artwork Information

Sir Joshua Reynolds was considered by many to be the most important artist of his day. As a young man he decided to become a painter after finding Posso's book on perspective, and Richardson's Essay on the Theory of Painting in his father's library. He went on to become the first president of the Royal Academy. This painting is noted in his Artist Sitter book of 1762, one of many such military portraits. The subject is portrayed wearing the uniform of a Lord Lieutenant, in a manner typical of Reynolds' middle period, with thin glazes on the face and thick impasto on the coat.