Henry Richard Fox (later Vassall), 3rd Baron Holland

Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, was one of the leading Whig politicians and salon hosts of late Georgian Britain. Painted by Fabre in Florence in 1795, this portrait documents an aristocratic Grand Tour encounter—Holland was travelling in Italy at a politically sensitive time, during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, when British liberals sympathetic to reform found Italy a more congenial environment than home. The National Portrait Gallery in London holds this work, placing it within the British tradition of civic portraiture. Holland later became famous as the host of Holland House in London, a gathering place for Whig politicians, poets, and intellectuals throughout the first decades of the nineteenth century. Fabre's Italianate style, grounded in Davidian smoothness and warm Roman tonality, offered a sophisticated alternative to the more theatrical English portraiture of Reynolds and Lawrence, and Grand Tour sitters often specifically sought out Continental painters as marks of cosmopolitan taste.

Oil on canvas with Fabre's characteristic Italian-trained finish: smooth flesh modelling, warm ochre ground showing through the shadow areas, and precise delineation of the features. The casual pose and informal dress suggest a Grand Tour informality rather than full ceremonial portrait conventions, with looser brushwork in the costume areas.