Shute Barrington (1734–1826)

Shute Barrington was Bishop of Durham from 1791 until his death in 1826, making him one of the longest-serving and most powerful bishops in the Church of England during Opie's active years. As Prince-Bishop of Durham, Barrington held both ecclesiastical and temporal authority over the County Palatine, a historically anomalous power that survived into the nineteenth century. Opie's 1805 portrait of Barrington at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford reflects the bishop's connection to learning — he was a significant supporter of Anglican charitable and educational initiatives. The Bodleian, as a major scholarly institution, would have valued a portrait of a leading churchman who engaged actively with educational reform. Barrington was known for his relatively liberal views on Catholic emancipation, placing him at an interesting position in the religious politics of the early nineteenth century.

Episcopal portraiture required careful attention to the bishop's robes — purple cassock, lawn sleeves, and possibly the white rochet and chimere of formal dress — which together create a distinctive colour scheme quite different from the dark coats of secular male portraiture. Opie manages this palette while maintaining his characteristic bold modelling of the face.