Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
John Hunter (1728-1793), Surgeon and anatomist
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Surgeon, brother of William Hunter; came to London from Lanark in 1748, studying with and assisting his brother; sailed to Belleisle 1761 and Portugal 1762, before practising in London from 1763; FRS 1767; surgeon at St George’s Hospital 1767; surgeon extraordinary to the King 1776 and deputy surgeon general to the army 1786; he assembled a museum to illustrate life in its entirety, subsequently acquired by the Royal College of Surgeons, London.
‘in person [he] was of middle height, vigorous, and robust, with high shoulders and rather short neck. His features were strongly marked, with prominent eyebrows, pyramidal forehead, and eyes of light blue or grey. His hair in youth was a reddish yellow ... impatient, blunt and unceremonious ... but candid and unreserved to a fault’ (DNB).
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.
‘in person [he] was of middle height, vigorous, and robust, with high shoulders and rather short neck. His features were strongly marked, with prominent eyebrows, pyramidal forehead, and eyes of light blue or grey. His hair in youth was a reddish yellow ... impatient, blunt and unceremonious ... but candid and unreserved to a fault’ (DNB).
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.