William Cleaver (1742–1815), DD, Principal (1785–1809) (copy after John Jackson)

William Cleaver, a copy after John Jackson from 1800 by John Hoppner, is one of multiple versions of a portrait documenting this Oxford academic and bishop. The practice of copying portraits for different institutional collections ensured that important sitters were represented in various relevant settings. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays fluent, confident brushwork in the tradition of Reynolds, with a warm atmospheric palette and a gift for flattering likenesses that retained individual character.

The copy maintains the compositional authority of the original while displaying Hoppner's characteristic broad technique in its execution.