Crisp Molineux (1730–1792)

Crisp Molineux, born 1730 and died 1792, was a Norfolk notable whose portrait by Opie is held in the Norfolk Museums Collections — a network of seven museums across Norfolk preserving the county's history and art. Norfolk's connection to Opie was primarily through his wife Amelia Alderson and her Norwich circle, and the painter made a number of portraits of Norfolk families and individuals. Molineux's name — with its Norman-French etymology suggesting ancient English gentry origins — places him in the class of established county families that formed the backbone of English rural society. The Norfolk Museums Collections' accumulation of Opie works reflects the region's interest in preserving its connections to a painter who, though Cornish by birth, became associated with East Anglian cultural life through his marriage.

A portrait of a Norfolk country gentleman by Opie would employ his standard male portrait formula: sober coat, neutral background, concentrated attention on the face. The bold chiaroscuro that characterises his work gives even county gentry subjects a presence that elevates them above formulaic record portraiture. The face is the expressive centre, with costume serving as social context.