JOHANN JULIUS HEINSIUS (1740-1812) Marie-Adélaide de France / Madame Adélaide (1784) Oil on canvas: 135 x 105 cm Private collection To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" The author of this beautiful portrait was a German called Johann Julius Heintz or Heinse; however, like many of his contemporaries and …
John Monson of Burton
POMPEO BATONI (1707-1787) John, 3rd Baron Monson of Burton (1775) Oil on canvas: 249 x 175 cm Private collection To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and open it in a new tab. The only claim to fame this handsome and very elegant young gentleman would have had was to have been portrayed by Pompeo …
A Welsh Diplomat
ANTON RAPHAEL MENGS (1728-1779) Sir Charles Hanbury Williams (1757) Oil on canvas: 110 x 83 cm Warsaw, National Museum. To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and open it in a new tab. Sir Charles Hanbury Williams (1708-1759) was already a well-known and highly-regarded poet, writer and satirist when he decided to embark on a …
Alexander, Duke of Gordon
POMPEO BATONI (1707-1787) Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon (1763) Oil on canvas: 292 x 192 cm National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Alexander Gordon (1743-1827) succeeded his father, Cosmo George, as 4th Duke of Gordon in 1752 when he was still a child, …
The handsome Agostino
JACOB FERDINAND VOET (1639-1689) Agostino Chigi, Principe di Farnese (c.1670) Oil on canvas (size unknown, probably 76 x 62 cm) Museum of Fine Arts and Lace, Alençon, France To enlarge the pictures, right-click on them and choose "Open in a new tab" When you look at a portrait by Jacob Ferdinand Voet, chances are that …
M. de Joly
ANTOINE VESTIER (1740-1824) M. Etienne de Joly (1795-96) Galerie Eric Coatalem, Paris Oil on canvas (81 x 65 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in another window") Here is another beautiful portrait by Antoine Vestier that shows the talent of this little-known French painter. Like the sitter in my …
A gentleman in red
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) A gentleman in a red coat (1758-60) Private collection Oil on canvas (99 x 74 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new window") Pompeo Batoni, one of the finest portrait painters in European history, is beginning to emerge from the darkness to which he …
A dashing war hero
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) General Sir Banastre Tarleton (1782) National Gallery, London Oil on canvas (236 x 145 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new window") The man portrayed here was considered by his countrymen as a dashing war hero, while his former enemies, the American rebels, …
Handsome Jack
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) Captain John Hayes St. Leger (1778) Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, Great Britain Oil on canvas (240 x 147 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new tab") John Hayes St. Leger (1756-1800) was a famous rake of the late 18th century. He was the son …
The Governor
ANTOINE VESTIER (1740-1824) Eugene Joseph Stanislas Foullon d'Ecotier (1785) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Oil on canvas (80 x 64 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new tab") Antoine Vestier was born in Avallon, Burgundy. Very little is known about his early years. By 1760 he …
Old Masters 