Sir Jeffrey Amherst (1717-1797)

Reynolds's second portrait of Sir Jeffrey Amherst from 1768 shows the conqueror of Canada in a very different light from the earlier 1765 Mead Art Museum canvas: where the earlier work depicted a relatively junior general, this National Gallery of Canada portrait documents Amherst at the height of his fame, recently returned from the American command that had secured the continent for Britain. The Seven Years' War victory in North America was the defining military achievement of the Georgian era, transforming Britain into the dominant Atlantic power and setting the conditions for both the American Revolution and the subsequent expansion of British settlement westward. Amherst's reputation during his lifetime rested almost entirely on the Canadian campaign; his subsequent role as governor-general of the American colonies was less distinguished, and the documented evidence of his advocacy for biological warfare against Native Americans during Pontiac's Rebellion has increasingly overshadowed his military record. Reynolds painted Amherst with the authority appropriate to a military hero without engaging with these complexities — the portrait's function was commemoration, not biography. The National Gallery of Canada's holding adds an appropriate irony: the man who conquered the country is now commemorated in an institution of the nation that eventually emerged from his conquests.

The military portrait presents the general with commanding authority. Reynolds's Grand Manner treatment elevates the sitter with appropriate grandeur.