The image shows a portrait of a man from the waist up. He faces slightly left, his left hand on his hip, and his right hand holding a long wooden staff. He has a fair complexion, dark eyes, a rounded face, and dark, curly hair styled in an 18th-century fashion. He wears a blue coat with gold embroidery over a white garment with gold detailing. The coat has wide sleeves with white frilled cuffs and buttons. In the background, there is a hazy seascape with a ship on the right flying a flag, implying a naval context. The backdrop consists of muted blues and browns.
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Unidentified British Navy Officer

painter John Wollaston (American, active c. 1742 - 1775)

c. 1745

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 127.3 x 101.9 cm (50 1/8 x 40 1/8 in.) ; framed: 141.6 x 114.3 x 8.8 cm (55 3/4 x 45 x 3 7/16 in.)
Culture
American
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art