George Lucy (1714 – 1786)

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (Lucca 1708 – Rome 1787). Oil painting on canvas, George Lucy (1714-1786) by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (Lucca 1708 – Rome 1787), Rome 1758. A three-quarter-length portrait, standing to left, wearing a white powdered wig, blue velvet coat with gold brocaded and a long gold brocaded, flowered waistcoat, white cuffs and stock, and black breeches in a walled terrace, with a ewer of flowers, carnations on the parapet ledge behind him the the left. He leans his left elbow on the plinth of a column, holding a black hat, whilst looking towards the left and pointing downwards with his right hand. In a letter to Mrs Hayes, dated 12 April 1758, George Lucy writes from Rome: "I have shown my face ad person to the celebrated Pompeo Battoni, to take the likeness thereof; I have sat twice, and am to attend him again in a day or two. These painters are great men, and must be flattered; for 'tis the custom here, not to think themsleves obliged to you for employing them, but that they oblige you by being employed. When I asked my operator what time he would require, his answer was a month or five weeks, and that he would not undertake to do me in less time..." Charlecote Park, Warwickshire (Accredited Museum)