George Henry Fitzroy (1760–1844), 4th Duke of Grafton

The 4th Duke of Grafton, painted by Lawrence in 1822 and now at Trinity College Cambridge, was a descendant of Charles II through the illegitimate line of the 1st Duke of Grafton — the royal connection that gave the Fitzroy family their identity as lineal if illegitimate heirs to the Stuart monarchy. Trinity College's holding of this portrait connects the Fitzroy family to the Cambridge institution that both the Duke and his aristocratic contemporaries attended as a matter of course — Cambridge being alongside Oxford the obligatory educational passage of the English male aristocracy. The 4th Duke's career as a Whig politician followed the family tradition, and his portrait by Lawrence documents the continuation of the Fitzroy political line in the Regency era. The large full-length scale at 239 by 146 centimeters asserts the ducal dignity appropriate to a man whose lineage combined ancient title, royal connection, and political tradition. Lawrence's confident management of this grand format in 1822 — two years after his presidency of the Royal Academy was confirmed — represents his mature practice at its most assured.

Lawrence depicts the Duke with the polished authority of high rank, the face rendered with careful attention to the strong Fitzroy features. The academic setting of Trinity College may have influenced the somewhat more formal treatment compared to Lawrence's more relaxed society portraits.