Thomas "Sense" Browne

This 1775 portrait of Thomas "Sense" Browne at the Yale Center for British Art depicts a figure from Georgian society. Dance's portraits at Yale reflect the institution's outstanding collection of British art assembled through Paul Mellon's visionary collecting. Dance's portraits combined the formal conventions of Grand Manner portraiture with a cooler, more austere palette and sculptural figure treatment that reflected his years studying in Rome under the influence of Pompeo Batoni.

The portrait is rendered with Dance's characteristic academic precision, the sitter depicted with the measured formality and careful drawing that reflected his Italian training and London practice.