Sir Francis Blake Delaval, KB (1727 - 1771)

Reynolds's portrait of Sir Francis Blake Delaval from around 1759 captures one of the most flamboyant personalities of Georgian England at the height of his theatrical self-invention. The Delaval family of Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland were famous throughout the northeast for their extravagant living and amateur theatricals: Sir Francis staged elaborate productions at the family seat and at the Twickenham riverside villa where he entertained on a legendary scale. Reynolds, who moved easily between the worlds of aristocratic display and intellectual culture that overlapped in Georgian London, responded to this showmanship with one of his more direct three-quarter-length male portraits — the sitter's presence requires no allegorical apparatus. Delaval died in 1771 at the relatively young age of forty-three, leaving behind a reputation for brilliant improvidence that placed him among the minor Romantic legends of the age. Reynolds's portrait, now in a National Trust property, preserves the confidence of a man who treated his own life as a performance.

Reynolds captures Delaval's theatrical personality through a dynamic pose and rich, warm palette. The confident handling and bold chiaroscuro show the influence of Rembrandt, whom Reynolds deeply admired, applied to create a portrait that projects aristocratic vitality and self-assurance.