Nathaniel Dance R.A. 1735-1811

three-quarter length, standing in a landscape, wearing a red coat waistcoat and beeches, holding a book in his right hand and leaning on a stone plinth

The present work dates to the period which Dance spent in Italy.  Dance travelled to Rome in 1754, and established himself as a successful portrait painter.  In 1762 he began to assist Pompeio Batoni, and the present work displays the influence of this collaboration.  Batoni was instructive in terms of strengthening Dance's palette, as well as introducing him to a grander clientele, and although the identity of the sitter remains unknown, it is clear that he was a man of substance.  Dance wrote to his father in February 1762: "I am now in such a situation in Rome that I cannot fail of making acquaintance with some of the greatest people of England".  Dance returned to England in 1765 and was subsequently instrumental in establishing the Royal Academy.