Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)

Cornet Nehemiah Winter, 11th Dragoons

Reynolds was born in Devon and was apprenticed to the portrait painter Thomas Hudson. He travelled in Italy before establishing his career in London. Reynolds became the most successful portrait artist of his day. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. His lectures or Discourses were hugely influential on the development of British art.

He was a prolific portraitist and often used studio assistants to complete the clothing and backgrounds of his paintings. He also re-used poses and compositions: the posture of Cornet Winter and his horse was used three years earlier in a portrait of Captain Orme. In this painting Reynolds emphasised the youth of his subject and the horrors of the battle beyond which Winter had experienced first-hand in France.

← Back to the Collection