Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
John Hunter (1728-1793), Surgeon and anatomist
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
c.1770
Painting by Robert Home [the sitter’s brother-in-law], three-quarter length seated in a landscape. Royal Society, London (illus. N. H. Robinson, Royal Society Catalogue of Portraits, 1980, p 183; S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.5). Engraved H. Cook c.1838. A copy by Dorofield Hardy with the Royal College of Surgeons, London.
c.1775-79
Painting by Robert Home, three-qarter length seated. Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.19; S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.6). Engraved H. Cook 1838.
1785
Prize medal of the Lyceum Medicum by L. Milton, designed by John Flaxman (illus. Bindman 1979, nos.168, 175; L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.262).
c.1785
Plaster life mask. Royal College of Surgeons, London, see NPG 1712 and NPG 4288.
1786
Painting by Joshua Reynolds, see NPG 77.
1786
Engraving by R. Stewart, half length.
1791
Medallion by James Tassie. Examples in wax and porcelain in the Royal College of Surgeons, London and Scottish NPG (PG 263); listed in copper and bronze by L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.354. Engraved J. Caldwall and, far less capably, by J. Corner 1793 (European Mag.); H. Adlard 1861.
1793
Drawing by Nathaniel Dance, half-length seated, much resembling the Tassie medallion. Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. Architects' Journal, 1890, p 51; S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.7). Inscribed verso: Drawn by Sir Nathaniel Holland 1793 -- late Dance. Lithograph (from a pencil drawing by Sir Nathaniel Holland) pub. M. & N. Hanhart from a drawing dated 1849 by T. H. Maguire. A related painting was with Sotheby’s, March 1996 (bust-length to left, thin white hair, purple coat).
Bust-length oval head, engraved C. Josi. Published 1 December 1793 and inscribed European Magazine - where it was not used, a poor plate by J. Corner appearing instead.
Posthumous
c.1800-05
Marble bust by John Flaxman, undraped, based on the life mask. Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.23). A silhouette engraving by G. Maile 1818 was taken from the Flaxman bust (see W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, p 42).
1820
Marble bust by Francis Chantrey, draped. Royal College of Surgeons, London (A. Yarrington, I. D. Lieberman, A. Potts, M. Baker, 'An Edition of the Ledger of Sir Francis Chantrey, RA, at the Royal Academy, 1809-1941', Wal. Soc., 1994, nos.19b, 108b; illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.23). Two plaster casts belong to the Society; another in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1992, III, no.723). Derived in part from the life mask, see NPG 1712 and NPG 4288.
1828
Painting by J. Wilson from a posthumous bust by Chantrey, exhibited RA 1828 (1090).
1850
Medal by L. C. Wyon, bust taken from the Reynolds portrait (L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Reign of Queen Victoria, 1987, no.2395).
Later sculptures include statues by Henry Weekes 1864 (Royal College of Surgeons, London; illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.22); Matthew Noble 1872-74 (Burlington House, London, rear facade); Henry Pinker 1886 (Museum of the History of Science, Oxford), and J. P. Macgillivray 1906 (Scottish NPG, north-east tower).
Half-length bronze by Alfred Gilbert 1893 (St George’s Hospital, Tooting; illus. Gilbert, RA, 1986, no.82). Busts by Thomas Woolner 1874 (Leicester Square, London); Alfred Drury c.1880 (St George’s Hospital, Hyde Park Gate, London); A. L. Vago c.1883 (Royal College of Surgeons, London); Ismond Rosen 1944 (Royal Society of Medicine; illus. Cat., 1988, p 67) and Nigel Boonham 1979 (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London; illus. A. Byron, London Status: A Guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture, 1981, p 145).
Plaster bas-relief by John Tweed c.1895 (Royal College of Surgeons, London; illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.23)
Doubtful Portraits
Unattributed painting, half-length holding a skull, Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.9); painted over an 18th-century portrait; the head somewhat resembles Zoffany.
Medal by E. W. Wyon, the late John Hunter, exhibited Royal Society of British Artists 1835 (785) probably showed another sitter of the same name.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
Painting by Robert Home [the sitter’s brother-in-law], three-quarter length seated in a landscape. Royal Society, London (illus. N. H. Robinson, Royal Society Catalogue of Portraits, 1980, p 183; S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.5). Engraved H. Cook c.1838. A copy by Dorofield Hardy with the Royal College of Surgeons, London.
c.1775-79
Painting by Robert Home, three-qarter length seated. Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.19; S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.6). Engraved H. Cook 1838.
1785
Prize medal of the Lyceum Medicum by L. Milton, designed by John Flaxman (illus. Bindman 1979, nos.168, 175; L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.262).
c.1785
Plaster life mask. Royal College of Surgeons, London, see NPG 1712 and NPG 4288.
1786
Painting by Joshua Reynolds, see NPG 77.
1786
Engraving by R. Stewart, half length.
1791
Medallion by James Tassie. Examples in wax and porcelain in the Royal College of Surgeons, London and Scottish NPG (PG 263); listed in copper and bronze by L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.354. Engraved J. Caldwall and, far less capably, by J. Corner 1793 (European Mag.); H. Adlard 1861.
1793
Drawing by Nathaniel Dance, half-length seated, much resembling the Tassie medallion. Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. Architects' Journal, 1890, p 51; S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.7). Inscribed verso: Drawn by Sir Nathaniel Holland 1793 -- late Dance. Lithograph (from a pencil drawing by Sir Nathaniel Holland) pub. M. & N. Hanhart from a drawing dated 1849 by T. H. Maguire. A related painting was with Sotheby’s, March 1996 (bust-length to left, thin white hair, purple coat).
Bust-length oval head, engraved C. Josi. Published 1 December 1793 and inscribed European Magazine - where it was not used, a poor plate by J. Corner appearing instead.
Posthumous
c.1800-05
Marble bust by John Flaxman, undraped, based on the life mask. Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.23). A silhouette engraving by G. Maile 1818 was taken from the Flaxman bust (see W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, p 42).
1820
Marble bust by Francis Chantrey, draped. Royal College of Surgeons, London (A. Yarrington, I. D. Lieberman, A. Potts, M. Baker, 'An Edition of the Ledger of Sir Francis Chantrey, RA, at the Royal Academy, 1809-1941', Wal. Soc., 1994, nos.19b, 108b; illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.23). Two plaster casts belong to the Society; another in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1992, III, no.723). Derived in part from the life mask, see NPG 1712 and NPG 4288.
1828
Painting by J. Wilson from a posthumous bust by Chantrey, exhibited RA 1828 (1090).
1850
Medal by L. C. Wyon, bust taken from the Reynolds portrait (L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Reign of Queen Victoria, 1987, no.2395).
Later sculptures include statues by Henry Weekes 1864 (Royal College of Surgeons, London; illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.22); Matthew Noble 1872-74 (Burlington House, London, rear facade); Henry Pinker 1886 (Museum of the History of Science, Oxford), and J. P. Macgillivray 1906 (Scottish NPG, north-east tower).
Half-length bronze by Alfred Gilbert 1893 (St George’s Hospital, Tooting; illus. Gilbert, RA, 1986, no.82). Busts by Thomas Woolner 1874 (Leicester Square, London); Alfred Drury c.1880 (St George’s Hospital, Hyde Park Gate, London); A. L. Vago c.1883 (Royal College of Surgeons, London); Ismond Rosen 1944 (Royal Society of Medicine; illus. Cat., 1988, p 67) and Nigel Boonham 1979 (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London; illus. A. Byron, London Status: A Guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture, 1981, p 145).
Plaster bas-relief by John Tweed c.1895 (Royal College of Surgeons, London; illus. W. LeFanu, A Catalogue of the Portraits and other paintings, drawings and sculpture in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1960, pl.23)
Doubtful Portraits
Unattributed painting, half-length holding a skull, Royal College of Surgeons, London (illus. S. Taylor, John Hunter and his Painters, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1993, fig.9); painted over an 18th-century portrait; the head somewhat resembles Zoffany.
Medal by E. W. Wyon, the late John Hunter, exhibited Royal Society of British Artists 1835 (785) probably showed another sitter of the same name.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.