John Hunter (1728-1793)
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/P 135
CollectionSpecial collections
CategoryVisual works
Object nameOil paintings, Portraits
TitleJohn Hunter (1728-1793)
DescriptionPortrait of John Hunter, unsigned, probably 1765-1785.
Half length, almost full face, the head turned very slightly to the left. The subject is a man in young-middle age: his hair is powdered but he isn't wearing a wig. He wears a collarless grey coat over a waistcoat in the same fabric, with a white stock at his neck. The coat is decorated with large grey buttons down the opening and around the edge of the cuff. The subject's right arm is crossed in front of him, and his right index finger points to a monkey shull held in his left hand. The scene is lit strongly from the upper left, leaving the left side of the subject in dark shadow, silhouetted against a light archway behind.
The painting was described by the donor as a portrait of John Hunter by Thomas Gainsborough. However this attribution is suspect. Radiography revealed that the portrait is overpainted on a face which resembles several documented self-portraits of Johann Zoffany, a friend of John Hunter, and an attribution to Zoffany is not unlikely. Nathaniel Dance-Holland has also been suggested as a third possibility. See A Bury, 'Antiques Review 1953-1954', Vol. 2, No. 6, p.27.
The radiographs and prints of the of the painting are preserved in the museum archives.
Sitter/subject
presented
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 6: Leicester Square
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 73cm by 58cm.
Dimensions
unframed height: 730 mm
unframed width: 580 mm
framed height: 933 mm
framed width: 793 mm
framed depth: 80 mm
unframed width: 580 mm
framed height: 933 mm
framed width: 793 mm
framed depth: 80 mm
