John Manners, Marquess of Granby

Reynolds painted John Manners, Marquess of Granby, around 1766, one of multiple portraits he made of the general who was arguably the most popular military figure in Georgian England. Granby's fame rested on his leadership of the British cavalry at the Battle of Warburg in 1760 — an action in which he charged without his hat, having lost it in the melee, creating an indelible image of bareheaded, fearless aggression that became one of the most reproduced military images of the century. His generosity to discharged soldiers — setting many up as publicans at his own expense — made him beloved among the common people, explaining why more English pubs bear his name than any other individual. Reynolds's portrait at the Ringling Museum in Florida belongs to the American dispersal of British portraiture through the nineteenth- and twentieth-century art market. The Ringling's collection, assembled by John Ringling of circus fame, focused on Baroque European painting but included significant British works; the Granby portrait represents Reynolds's military portraiture reaching an American audience that would have known the Granby legend through the names of public houses brought by British emigrants.

The military portrait presents the marquess with heroic authority. Reynolds's handling creates a powerful image of cavalry command.