About this artwork
John Hope was one of numerous Scots who pursued successful careers in the army, and who attained distinction in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. After beginning his career in an Anglo-Dutch regiment, he was appointed Captain of the 60th Royal Americans. In the wake of the French Revolution, he served in the British forces that sought to contain France's conquests in Europe. From 1793, he was aide-de-camp to Sir William Erskine in Flanders, before taking charge of British forces in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, recently seized from the allied republics of France and the Netherlands. While serving under Wellington in Spain during the subsequent Napoleonic Wars, he led a brigade at the battle of Salamanca, but was invalided home shortly afterwards.
Raeburn's portrait shows Hope in full uniform, every inch the cool and self-confident career soldier.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
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title:Lieutenant General Sir John Hope, 1765 - 1836.
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date created:About 1806
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:76.20 x 63.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Bequeathed by John Cook, 2002
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accession number:PG 3310
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Sir Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn
Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, Henry Raeburn showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 he moved to London where he met the important portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. He spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the rich,...