Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron Le Despencer

This 1776 portrait of Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron Le Despencer, at the National Portrait Gallery depicts the notorious founder of the Hellfire Club—the gathering of aristocratic libertines who met at West Wycombe Park and Medmenham Abbey for ceremonies mixing political satire, sexual scandal, and mock-religious ritual. Dashwood, also a Postmaster General under Lord North, combined serious public office with the most flamboyant private reputation of his era. Dance renders him with formal portrait dignity that makes no reference to the scandalous activities that fascinated and horrified contemporary society. The National Portrait Gallery's holding places this among the canonical portraits of Georgian eccentric individualism.

The portrait captures Dashwood with characteristic directness, Dance rendering the controversial peer's features with neither flattery nor judgment, creating a straightforward portrait of a complex personality.