Lord Rodney is depicted here wearing an admiral’s uniform and the ribbon and star of the Order of the Bath. Rodney entered the Navy in 1732. He became commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands and Barbados in 1779. In 1780, he defeated a Spanish squadron off Cape St Vincent and two years later defeated the French in the Battle of the Saints in the West Indies, restoring British supremacy at sea in the closing stages of the American War of Independence. For this he was created a peer. He was a friend of the Prince of Wales, whom he described as ‘our great, amiable and Royal friend’.

This miniature is a copy by William Grimaldi (1751-1830), of the oil painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the Royal Collection (RCIN 405899). 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 inscribed by the artist on the backing paper in ink: George / Lord Rodney K B / b.1717 d. 1792 / painted by W. Grimaldi / 1790.