General George Augustus Eliott, later Lord Heathfield (1770–90) defended the British territory of Gibraltar against a long siege by the Spanish and their French allies, which ended on 13 September 1782.
Reynolds captures the moment of danger before the General’s triumph at Gibraltar. He holds a giant key symbolising the ‘key of Gibraltar’ which he refuses to give up to the Spanish. Standing on the rock against a backdrop of billowing black smoke, Heathfield gazes steadfastly into the distance. The portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1787 and an engraving was made of it soon after to capitalise on Heathfield’s fame. Other artists have always particularly admired this portrait for Heathfield’s indomitable expression.
Within 20 years of being painted, the portrait was already in poor condition. The extensive cracking is a result of the defects of Reynolds’s painting technique.
General George Augustus Eliott, later Lord Heathfield (1770–90) defended the British territory of Gibraltar against a long siege by the Spanish and their French allies, which ended on 13 September 1782. Britain had won Gibraltar from Spain in 1704, and it was regarded by the British people as a key possession. General Eliott was made Governor of Gibraltar in 1777. Two years later, calculating that Britain’s navy and army would be heavily involved in the American War of Independence and therefore unavailable to defend Gibraltar, the Spanish and their French allies began a siege and blockade of the island.
The siege lasted three years, seven months and twelve days. Having failed to starve the British garrison into surrender, the Spanish anchored ten ships laden with ammunition close to the seawall and opened fire. General Eliott returned fire with such accuracy that the ships burst into flames one by one, and by midnight the whole harbour seemed ablaze. The following month the British fleet broke the blockade, the siege was over and Gibraltar remained British.
General Eliott was awarded the Order of the Bath (the star Reynolds portrays on his breast) and on his return to England in 1787 was created Lord Heathfield of Gibraltar. He sat for Reynolds the following month. The portrait was commissioned by John Boydell, an Alderman of the City of London, who wished to establish a gallery of paintings in the Guildhall depicting ‘great and glorious actions’ which would have a ‘moral effect’ upon his fellow citizens.
Reynolds captured the moment of danger before the General’s triumph at Gibraltar. He holds a giant key symbolising the ‘key of Gibraltar’ which he refuses to give up to the Spanish. Standing on the rock against a backdrop of billowing black smoke, Heathfield gazes steadfastly into the distance. Two cannon on the rock, firing red-hot shot, have set fire to the ‘incombustible’ battering-ships. The portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1787 and an engraving was made of it soon after to capitalise on Heathfield’s fame. Other artists have always particularly admired this portrait for Heathfield’s indomitable expression.
Within 20 years of being painted, the portrait was already in poor condition. The extensive cracking is a result of the defects of Reynolds’s painting technique. He may have mixed his oil paints with varnish while they were on his palette. He also used experimental binding media when making his paints – mixing pigment with mastic resin, a gelled medium called ‘megilp’ and linseed oil – and built up paint and varnish in many differing layers that didn't all dry at the same rate, causing the paint to shrink and crack. These problems are also apparent in Reynolds’s Colonel Tarleton. In 1809 several owners of paintings by Reynolds complained that their pictures were already cracking and falling apart. Sir Thomas Lawrence bought the damaged Lord Heathfield and used it as a model for his own Lt.-General Sir Thomas Graham, later 1st Baron Lynedoch of 1810–11 (private collection), which has a very similar setting and pose.
Lord Heathfield was purchased for the National Gallery in 1824 as part of the Angerstein Collection. The wide and deep shrinkage cracks in the background and in Lord Heathfield’s coat have been filled and painted out.
