John succeeded his brother Francis (whose miniature by the same artist is also in the Royal Collection, RCIN 404252) and became 6th Duke of Bedford in 1802. He served as an ensign (a junior commissioned officer) in the 3rd regiment of Foot Guards between 1783 and 1785. From 1788 to 1802, he was a member of parliament for Tavistock and served as Irish viceroy from 1806-7. His second wife, Georgiana, helped him turn their home at Woburn into the centre of fashionable life.

This miniature is one of William Grimaldi’s (1751-1830) copies of a portrait by John Hoppner painted in 1805. Grimaldi was the son of the 7th Marquess Grimaldi and the grandson of Alessandro Maria Grimaldi, a Genoese nobleman and artist who had settled in England after the bombardment of Genoa in 1684. He succeeded to the title in 1800. Grimaldi was trained by his uncle Thomas Worlidge and worked for several years in Paris (1777-83), although he exhibited regularly in London from 1768 to 1830. He was appointed miniature painter in turn to the Duke and Duchess of York in 1791, and to George IV when Prince of Wales in 1806, and then when king in 1824.

The miniature is signed and dated on the base of the column on the left Grimaldi / 1808, and inscribed by the artist on the backing board in ink: His Grace the Duke of Bedford / For His Royal Highness the Prince / of Wales / By W. Grimaldi Enamel & Miniature painter / to their Royal Highnesses the Duke & Duchess of York / 1808.