Oil on canvas held in an old period frame; entire 18 by 16 ins; 46 x 41cm.
Provenance: English noble family
Born in Rome Thomas Jenkins went to London at an early age and studied portraiture under Thomas Hudson, the influence of whom can clearly be seen in this portrait. He travelled back to Italy and by 1753 was sharing a studio with Richard Wilson painting the English aristocracy that were on the Grand Tour. He became a member of the Accademico di San Luca in 1761, but shortly afterwards ceased to practice as a painter , becoming the principal English banker in Rome and an important dealer in pictures and antiquities with strong links to the Vatican.
Painted around 1760 this portrait depicts a gentleman Grand Tourist and betrays the obvious influences in both posture and style of his early teacher Hudson and the great Rome based painters of the day; Mengs, Maron and particularly Batoni.
The art historian and Batoni scholar Francis Russell has viewed this painting and confirmed attribution to Jenkins.
