Portrait of a Gentleman, traditionally identified as Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire

Hugh Douglas Hamilton, the son of a Dublin wigmaker, was trained at the Dublin Society's Drawing School before moving to London. In the 1760s and 70s, he developed a successful portrait practice, working both in oil and pastel, in both London and Dublin. Around 1782, however, he travelled to Italy and spent thirteen years in Rome. There, he in a circle of Italian and foreign artists that included Antonio Canova, Francesco Piranesi, and John Flaxman, and he received portrait commissions from the exiled Stuart royal family and from the most important figures associated with the Grand Tour. This impressive pastel, executed in Rome, has traditionally been identified as a portrait of Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire (1753-1801), although some doubt has been thrown on this identification. Whoever the sitter, it is among Hamilton's most beautiful full-length pastel portraits and has twice set a record price for the artist's work.