Portrait of Rt Hon. John Hely-Hutchinson (1724-1794), Provost of Trinity College, Dublin

Reynolds painted John Hely-Hutchinson, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, around 1778, depicting one of the most controversial academic administrators of the Georgian period. Hely-Hutchinson's tenure as Provost from 1774 until his death in 1794 was marked by reforming ambition and perpetual institutional conflict: he attempted to admit Catholics and Dissenters to Trinity, to introduce modern subjects into the curriculum, and to modernize an institution that had changed little since the seventeenth century. His reforming agenda, though largely frustrated, reflected the liberal wing of Anglo-Irish Protestant opinion that sought a more inclusive definition of Irish Protestantism. Reynolds's portrait, now in the National Gallery of Ireland, depicts the Provost with the authority appropriate to his position while conveying the intelligence and determination that made him a polarizing figure in Dublin intellectual life. Reynolds's Irish connections were primarily through the London-based Anglo-Irish community — Edmund Burke, Oliver Goldsmith, and others — rather than through direct engagement with Dublin society, making this commission somewhat unusual in his portfolio.

The formal portrait presents the provost with intellectual authority. Reynolds's handling combines academic dignity with individual character.