.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Admiral George Brydges Rodney was born to a prominent yet humble naval family. After completing his education at Harrow School as a King’s Letter boy, he began his naval career at the age of fourteen. A distinguished victory at Ventimiglia during the War of Austrian Succession in 1742 led to his promotion to Captain, making him one of the youngest to hold this post. He continued to climb the ranks, after crucial successes during the Seven Year’s War, he was awarded the title of Baronet. During the American Revolutionary War, he was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station (Barbados), where he played an integral role in the Battles of Saint Vincent and Martinique. He was criticised for his actions at St. Eustatius, where he rounded up and looted from the Jewish merchant community he suspected of aiding revolutionaries and for seeking prizes instead of cutting off the French aid to the Chesapeake Bay, where the Americans would gain a crucial victory at the Battle of Yorktown. After a short break in England, Rodney returned to the fray and cinched a critical win over the French at the Battle of the Saintes. After the battle, Rodney was credited with the invention of the naval strategy of ‘breaking the line’, where a ship takes advantage of the position of the enemy and breaks through the line of battle, enabling it to fire off both sides.
Thomas Gainsborough inscribed the present portrait with the date of his sitter's victory over the French at Saintes, April 12th 1782, and a captured sail with the fluer de lis is visible to the left of the composition. A portrait of Rodney commemorating this victory was first commissioned by Alderman Harley, whose daughter married the Admiral’s son. That version, larger than the present painting, remains in a private collection. Hugh Belsey has suggested that this version was painted on an intimate scale to minimize potential damages caused by sea transportation (op. cit.). This painting remained in the artist’s studio at the time of his death, and then passed to his nephew and student Gainsborough Dupont. A capable artist, Dupont made a drawing after the composition which served as the basis for a mezzotint (1788).
Thomas Gainsborough inscribed the present portrait with the date of his sitter's victory over the French at Saintes, April 12th 1782, and a captured sail with the fluer de lis is visible to the left of the composition. A portrait of Rodney commemorating this victory was first commissioned by Alderman Harley, whose daughter married the Admiral’s son. That version, larger than the present painting, remains in a private collection. Hugh Belsey has suggested that this version was painted on an intimate scale to minimize potential damages caused by sea transportation (op. cit.). This painting remained in the artist’s studio at the time of his death, and then passed to his nephew and student Gainsborough Dupont. A capable artist, Dupont made a drawing after the composition which served as the basis for a mezzotint (1788).