Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, painted around 1785 and now in the National Portrait Gallery, depicts the Field Marshal who had commanded British forces in the conquest of Canada during the Seven Years' War — a campaign that ended French colonial power in North America. Amherst's reputation was complex by 1785: celebrated for the Canada campaign, he had declined to command in America during the Revolutionary War and had been removed from his position as commander-in-chief under political pressure. Gainsborough's late portrait renders the aging military hero with the atmospheric freedom and direct characterization of his final years, the face studied with the same unsentimental honesty he brought to his late male portraits generally. The National Portrait Gallery holds the work among its comprehensive collection of British historical portraits.

Gainsborough renders the aged military leader with his characteristic warmth and atmospheric softness. The portrait balances the authority of military command with the gentle handling that distinguishes Gainsborough's approach from the more dramatic military portraits of his contemporaries.