Captain Robert Orme

Reynolds's Captain Robert Orme from 1756, in the National Gallery, is one of his earliest and most dashing portraits, depicting a young officer in the dramatic moment of battlefield command. Orme had served in America during the French and Indian War, and the portrait captures the martial energy that Reynolds associated with the British military ideal. The windblown hair, the dynamic pose, and the battlefield smoke create one of the most vivid military portraits of the eighteenth century.

Reynolds captures the officer in mid-action with unusual dynamism for a formal portrait, the diagonal composition and billowing smoke creating a sense of battlefield urgency. The warm palette and the bold handling of the uniform and background demonstrate his early mastery of the dramatic portrait.