John Hunter (1728-1793)
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/P 121
CollectionSpecial collections
CategoryVisual works
Object nameOil paintings, Portraits
TitleJohn Hunter (1728-1793)
DescriptionPortrait of John Hunter by Joshua Reynolds, unsigned, 1786.
Seated, almost full length, full face with his legs turned to the right. Hunter occupies the lower left hand side of the canvas, sitting in a chair with his right arm hangining loose at his side and holding a quill, while his left elbow rests on the table next to him and his left hand rests lightly on his chin. He is dressed in a coat and breeches of red velvet, with a white shirt beneath. He is wigless, and his graying hair is only loosely dressed, curling out over and behind his ears. On the table under his elbow are some loose papers, on which a series of lines which appear to branch and radiate out from his elbow are visible. Behind the papers a two-bottle inkstand, with a quill in the left hand bottle, and beyond this three books: two are closed, with their spines facing the viewer, originally inscribed 'Natural History of Fossils' and 'Natural History of Vegetables' (though these titles are now obscured). The third book is propped open behind them: the open pages show, on the left, a series of fore-limb bones of animals ranging from a horse (top left) to a human (bottom right), and on the right, a series of skulls ranging from a crocodile (bottom left) to European human (top right). On the far right hand side of the picture at the back of the table a bell-jar covers a cast of the bronchi of the human lungs. On a mantlepiece above the table stands a glass pot containing another specimen preserved in fluid: it appears to be two pieces of bone connected by a large callous. Red colour is visible in the specimen, suggesting an injection of the blood vessels in the tissue. Finally in the top right hand corner of the canvas two large skeletal feet hang down, with the shin bones disappearing out of sight above.
This portrait was lauded on its exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1786, and has become an iconic image of Hunter as the philosophical anatomist-surgeon. His pose, the quill and the papers and books all suggest a man of letters, lost in thought: his dress suggests success but not ostentation, while the inclusion of several anatomical preparations provides direct reference to his activities as both dissector and collector. Of the specimens, only the skeleton of Charles Byrne (see related records) is unambiguous. It was included despite Hunter's earlier coyness surrounding the circumstances of his acquisition of Byrne's remains in 1783, and reflects his decision to make the skeleton a centrepiece of his museum in Leicester Square (the museum was completed in 1785, and by 1788 Hunter was giving annual tours to the public in which he gave his account of Byrne's death and preservation). The specimen in fluid cannot be matched with any now preserved in the Hunterian Collection, and nor was its identity was apparent to Hunter's former assistant, William Clift, when he was conservator of the Hunterian Museum in the early 19th century. It seems likely that it represents an experiment on bone growth or healing, and the presence of red pigment probably indicates an attempt to show the role of the blood in the formation of new tissue. The cast of the lungs, preserved under the bell jar, has been identified as a pathological specimen showing metastatic tumours, but it probably represents a wax injection of the bronchi of the normal lungs, and is intended to to illustrate Hunter's anatomical expertise - perhaps as a sniping reference to an earlier portrait of his brother William Hunter, in which a similar cast features.
The painting was commissioned by John Hunter who paid the artist 50 guineas in 1785 and again in 1786. Reynolds' papers reveal that John and Ann Hunter had appointments with Reynolds in 1777: this may have been the time when the oil sketch attributed to Reynolds which shows Hunter with a straggly beard was produced (copy in RCS collections, P 134, original at Society of Apothecaries). Hunter had further sittings with Reynolds in 1786, 1787 and 1789. The portrait was was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1786, but was reworked in 1787 and 1789. A comparison between the engraving and the painting as it is now suggests that Reynolds made some minor changes to Hunter's face, perhaps as a result of Hunter's illness. The painting remained in the possession of his family after his death and was presented to the College by his son John Banks Hunter in 1821.
A persistent legend surrounds Hunter's sittings for Reynolds, which suggests that at some stage Hunter slipped into reverie and Reynolds turned the canvas upside down to capture the new pose. Several spectators in the 19th and early 20th century described how - in the right light - the unfinished head of the first portrait was visible between Hunter's legs on the finished canvas. However radiography in 1959 and 2007 has found no trace of this. Sir Reginald Watson-Jones, in his Hunterian Oration of 1959, claimed that the x-rays did show a different head directly beneath Hunter's. Radiography does seem to show a puffier, fleshier visage beneath the final paint layer, but it is more likely that this is an artefact of Reynolds' working practice, in which flesh tones were painted in and then reworked and shaded. The radiographs are preserved in the museum archives.
Copies by John Jackson and an unknown artist are preserved in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and Oriel College Oxford respectively. For copies in the RCS collection see related records.
Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1786, no.223; British Institution, 1813, no.38; British Institution, 1846, no.14; National Portraits Exhibition, 1867, no.82; Royal Academy, 1873, no.158; Royal Academy, 1951-52, no.38.
Engraved: Mezzotint by William Sharp, published 1 January, 1788; Mezzotint by S.W. Reynolds, 1834, and others (see related records).
Production date 1786
Sitter/subject
presented
Related objectsRCSSC/P 122RCSSC/P 124RCSHC/Osteo. 223RCSSC/P 587RCSSC/P 134RCSSC/P 1842RCSSC/P 1843RCSSC/P 1844RCSSC/P 1845RCSSC/P 1846RCSSC/P 1850RCSSC/P 1853RCSSC/P 1854RCSSC/P 1855RCSSC/P 1856RCSSC/P 1859RCSSC/P 1865RCSSC/P 1867RCSSC/P 949RCSSC/P 1727RCSSC/P 3150RCSSC/P 1847RCSSC/P 3234RCSSC/P 1846.1
Physical Location
Location
Not on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 140cm by 111cm.
Bibliography
SourceMannings 2000
p.271-272
NotesMannings' catalogue includes the dates of Hunter's sittings for Reynolds, and repeats the claim made by Reginald Watson-Jones that radiography in 1959 revealed the reworking of Hunter's head in 1789.
SourceDonations Book 1817-1822
NotesThe entry and additional notes are in the hand of William Clift.
Transcript1016. January 16th 1821. Received Mr Hunter's Picture Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Bequeathed to the College by Mrs Hunter, and afterwards confirmed by her Son, John Banks Hunter. Mr Hunter died Oct 16 1793. Buried at St Martin in the field, In a vault. 65 [64 on his Coffin.] Mrs Hunter died January 7 1821. Aet 79. And was buried on Jan 15th at Marylebone New Church New road, in a Vault under the Church. Brought the Picture from Mrs Hunter's House, Hollis St. Cavendish Square. Mr Hunter born Feb 14 1728. Died Oct 16 1793. Aged 65 "64" on his breast plate. 1821. Mrs Hunter 79. Born Anno 1742. 79. 1821.
