Capability Brown

Overview
Extended Catalogue Entry

Capability Brown

by Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt)
oil on canvas, circa 1773
29 5/8 in. x 24 7/8 in. (752 mm x 632 mm)
Purchased, 1989
Primary Collection
NPG 6049

Sitterback to top

Lancelot ('Capability') Brown (1716-1783), Landscape gardener. Sitter in 4 portraits.

Artistback to top

Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt) (1735-1811), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 62 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

Brown's open, naturalistic landscapes, populated by grazing herds and punctuated by eye-catching buildings, were much admired. His sparkling eyes and slightly cocked head in Dance's portrait give him a relaxed and approachable air. Brown commissioned this image, which also circulated as an engraving, reflecting the new celebrity of the landscape gardener.

Related worksback to top

NPG 1490: Capability Brown (after)
NPG D20332: Capability Brown (after)
NPG D16434: Capability Brown (after)

Linked publicationsback to top

Audio Guide
Smartify image discovery app
Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 74
Jenkins, Susan, Compton Verney guidebook, 2004, p. 30
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 81

Subjects & Themesback to top

Oil
Painting

Events of 1773back to top

Current affairs

Tea Act grants the struggling East India Company a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
Brokers who meet to do business in Jonathan's coffee house in Threadneedle Street, London decide to call themselves the Stock Exchange.
General Turnpike Act regulates the system of road tolls.

Art and science

Samuel Johnson and James Boswell undertake a journey together to the western islands of Scotland.
Oliver Goldsmith's play She Stoops to Conquer debuts in London's Covent Garden Theatre.

International

Captain James Cook becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle.
Boston Tea Party demonstrates opposition in the colonies to the import duty on tea. Some fifty colonists, disguised as Indians, tip a valuable cargo of tea into Boston harbour as a protest against the British tax.
Responding to pressure from the Catholic monarchs of Europe, Clement XIV abolishes the Jesuit Order.

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