William Mulready 1786-1863

The identification of the sitter is confirmed by a comparison to a known self-portrait in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 4450), as well as to the figure of Duncan Gray in Wilkie's The Refusal, painted in 1814.  Wilkie named Mulready as the model for this character.  Kathryn Moore Heleniak, in her work on Mulready (William Mulready, 1980, p.197, no.82), mentions an untraced self portrait dated to 1813, which would fit chronologically with the present picture.  A portrait of the artist's father by William Mulready, on a similarly small scale, is in the National Gallery of Ireland.