Captain Samuel Barrington, 1729-1800

This 1770 portrait of Captain Samuel Barrington depicts a Royal Navy officer who served with distinction during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. Naval portraiture recorded the officers who maintained British maritime supremacy during the Georgian era. Dance's portraits combined the formal conventions of Grand Manner portraiture with a cooler, more austere palette and sculptural figure treatment that reflected his years studying in Rome under the influence of Pompeo Batoni.

The naval captain is depicted with martial authority, Dance rendering the officer's uniform and confident bearing with the precision expected of portraits commemorating distinguished military service.