Portrait of Lord Rawdon
painting by Thomas Gainsborough
Portrait of Lord Rawdon is an oil on canvas portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Gainsborough, from 1784. It depicts the Anglo-Irish soldier and politician Lord Rawdon. He is shown at full-length in his British Army uniform against an Arcadian background. It is held im the São Paulo Museum of Art.
History and description
Rawdon had notably served under Lord Cornwallis during the Southern Campaign of the American War of Independence. Later made Earl of Moira, he was a leading Whig and a close ally and friend of the future king George IV, who unsuccessfully tried to have him become Prime Minister during the Regency era.
Gainsborough was one of Britain's most fashionable portraits who had relocated from Bath to the capital a decade earlier. This was a dual commission, as Cornwallis and Rawdon both commissioned him to produce a portrait so they could exchange the pictures.
The painting was one of eighteen paintings Gainsborough submitted to the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1784 at Somerset House. After a dispute with his fellow members of the Royal Academy over the hanging arrangements, he withdrew all the paintings at the last moment.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Portrait of Lord Rawdon” as painting by Thomas Gainsborough. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as painting by Thomas Gainsborough. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q49873763. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1784.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Portrait of Lord Rawdon”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Portrait of Lord Rawdon primary sources, Portrait of Lord Rawdon archive and Portrait research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Portrait of Lord Rawdon”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Portrait of Lord Rawdon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.