Artwork

Portrait of Lieutenant Richard Mansergh Saint George (1756/9-1798)

Portrait of Lieutenant Richard Mansergh Saint George (1756/9-1798) is an oil painting by the Neoclassicist artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton. It dates from 1798 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.

About this work

Overview

Hugh Douglas Hamilton, an Irish artist active in the late eighteenth century, painted a portrait of Lieutenant Richard Mansergh Saint George in 1798. Executed in oil, the work reflects Hamilton’s shift from pastel to larger-scale oil commissions after his periods in London and Rome, and it now belongs to the National Gallery of Ireland.

Subject & Meaning

The canvas portrays Lieutenant Richard Mansergh Saint George in his military attire, standing beside a stone monument. He rests his left hand on his head, his dark hair visible beneath a black jacket trimmed in white, while a helmet lies at his feet, suggesting a moment of repose or contemplation within a martial context.

Technique & Style

Rendered in a neoclassical idiom, the portrait combines precise modeling of flesh with a restrained palette of blacks, whites, and earth tones. Hamilton’s handling of oil allows subtle gradations of light on the uniform and the stone, emphasizing the figure’s dignified bearing against the architectural backdrop.

History & Provenance

After completing the work in Dublin, where Hamilton had settled in the early 1790s, the portrait entered private collections before being acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland. Its documentation traces a consistent ownership line, confirming its attribution to Hamilton and its date of execution.

Context

The painting emerges at a time when Irish portraitists were catering to the Anglo‑Irish gentry and military officers, reflecting both personal status and the broader neoclassical taste that favored classical motifs such as the inscribed monument in the background.

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Artist & collection

Artist

Hugh Douglas Hamilton

Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA (c. 1739 – 10 February 1808) was an Irish painter who specialised in portrait painting. He spent considerable periods in London and Rome before returning to Dublin in the early 1790s. Until the…