Portrait of Lord Moira
Portrait of Lord Moira | |
---|---|
Artist | Joshua Reynolds |
Year | 1789–1790 |
Type | Oil on canvas, portrait |
Dimensions | 240 cm × 148 cm (94.6 in × 58.3 in) |
Location | Hillsborough Castle, Royal Collection, County Down |
Portrait of Lord Moira is a portrait painting by the English artist Sir Joshua Reynolds of the Irish soldier and politician Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, then known as the Earl of Moira.[1]
A member of the Protestant Ascendancy, Moira served in the British Army during the American War of Independence. He subsequently became known as a friend of the young George, Prince of Wales. In 1806 he served in the Ministry of All the Talents as Master General of the Ordnance, the senior military position in the cabinet. In 1812 during the Regency era Moira was considered a prospective Prime Minister by George, now Prince Regent, but was unable to form a compromise cabinet between Whigs and Tories. Instead in 1813 he accepted the lesser but lucrative position of Governor-General of India which he held for a decade.[2]
Begun in 1789 and finished by the next year, it was one of the last times Reynolds directly depicted a sitter due to his failing eyesight.[3] A full-length portrait, it was exhibited at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in 1790.[4] It was commissioned by the sitter as a gift for Frederick, Duke of York. On York's death in 1827 it was acquired by his brother George IV. Today it is in the Royal Collection and hangs in the Red Room of Hillsborough Castle in County Down, Moira's native county.[5]
References
Bibliography
- Blunt, Anthony. The Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen: The later Italian pictures. Phaidon, 1969.
- Hudson, Derek. Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Personal Study. G. Bles, 1958.
- Hutchinson, Martin. Lord Liverpool: Britain's Greatest Prime Minister. Lutterworth Press, 2020
- Postle, Edward (ed.) Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity. Harry N. Abrams, 2005.
- v
- t
- e
- Portrait of Robert Orme (1756)
- Portrait of Margaret Desenfans (1757)
- David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy (1761)
- Portrait of John Burgoyne (1766)
- Portrait of the Marquess of Rockingham (1768)
- Portrait of Elizabeth Kerr (1769)
- Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney: The Archers (1769–1770)
- Portrait of Joseph Banks (1773)
- Blinking Sam (c. 1775)
- Lady Cockburn and Her Three Eldest Sons (1775)
- Portrait of Omai (c. 1776)
- Lady Caroline Howard (1778)
- Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children (1779)
- The Ladies Waldegrave (1780–1781)
- Thaïs (1781)
- Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1782)
- Portrait of Banastre Tarleton (1782)
- Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus (1784)
- Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse (1784)
- The Age of Innocence (1785 or 1788)
- Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert (1788)
- Portrait of Lord Moira (1790)
- Mary Palmer (sister)
- Elizabeth Johnson (sister)
- Frances Reynolds (sister)
- Theophila Gwatkin (niece, model)
- Wick House
- Grand Style
- Society of Artists of Great Britain
- Royal Academy of Arts
- Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds
- Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1836 painting)
- The Club