Portraiture and the British Naval Officer, c.1740-1805

British naval officers were key political, social and cultural figures during the eighteenth century, and their portraits have much to tell us about that context. The period addressed by the project saw profound changes in the Royal Navy as an institution including through the increased regulation of officers' education, appointment, progression, dress, conduct and rewards. This period also saw a dramatic expansion in the market for portraits in Britain as, thanks to new forms of status and wealth, a growing number of artists were called on to depict a wider group of potential sitters, including many members of the 'new' professions such as naval officers. For these individuals, portraits seem to have confirmed corporate belonging and adherence to institutional codes whilst also distinguishing the sitter from others, as officers and would-be officers sought to highlight their potential for the bold confident leadership sought within the Navy's fluid ranks. In turn, portraitists seem to have been pressed both to signify belonging and to innovate so that their sitters' images were sufficiently distinctive as officerial portraits and as works of art within a crowded art world. This spiral of imperial, institutional and artistic competition affected the practice and forms of portraiture throughout this period, and provides the underlying dynamic for the project in tandem with a broader concern to trace these portraits' historical reception/significance.

The research questions raised by this project will be identified by the student in discussion with the supervisor(s) along with the case studies through which those questions will be addressed. The questions, approach and interpretation will be broadly art-historical, that is, concerned with the production, reception, dissemination and significance of the works in question within their contemporary context, with sitters' biographies playing an informing role. The case studies will be largely focused on artworks (paintings and prints) from the two Heritage Organisations, which between them hold an extraordinary array of naval officer portraits from the period.

While pursuing their PhD research, the student will contribute to relevant collections-related research and events within the two Heritage Organisations, including assisting with public programmes relating to the new display of naval portraits within the Queen's House, Greenwich, in 2016; producing work on key portraits for authored publication on the NMM's collections website, and developing a digital exhibition or slide show on some aspect of the NPG's naval portraiture.