Captain Arthur Forbes

Captain Arthur Forbes — possibly the same individual or a close relation to the Forbes of Culloden in Romney's National Trust for Scotland portrait — appears again in an undated canvas at Guildhall Art Gallery. The two portraits of Captain Arthur Forbes suggest either two different men of the same name or a single subject painted twice. The Guildhall's version exists alongside the National Trust for Scotland's version as potential variants or companions. Captain Forbes was likely a professional military officer from the Scottish Forbes family with London connections that brought him into Romney's professional orbit. The Guildhall Art Gallery, as an institution of the City of London, typically holds works with London or English commercial connections, which may indicate that this Forbes had metropolitan as well as Scottish ties.

The undated canvas follows Romney's standard approach for military and professional male subjects — direct gaze, economical background, face given the primary tonal attention. Comparison with the National Trust for Scotland version would clarify whether these are the same subject painted at different times or different individuals of the same name. Romney's technical consistency makes stylistic distinction between near-contemporary canvases genuinely difficult.