Lawrence was the most fashionable and also the greatest portraitist of his generation. He was made Principal Painter to George III in 1792 after Reynolds’s death, and received occasional commissions; however it was only after 1814 that George IV began to employ him in earnest. This portrait was commissioned by George IV at a cost of 200 guineas and painted between 1824 and 1826; it may be the portrait exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1828. The Earl was a lawyer and reactionary Tory politician who served George III and was taken over by the Prince Regent. This is a rare example of a Lawrence (or indeed any English portrait of this date) painting on panel.