Samuel Linley

Gainsborough painted several members of the musical family of his friend Thomas Linley—including this subject's sister Elizabeth, Mrs. Sheridan—during his years in Bath and subsequently when both families moved to London. Samuel Linley (1760–1778) performed as a child with his family but, as a teenager, abandoned music for a naval career. This portrait may commemorate Samuel's new livelihood and anticipates his first sailing aboard the Thunderer. Gainsborough presents him in uniform as a midshipman, wearing a blue coat with a white tab and gold button at the collar. The artist's mature style is exemplified by the sense of swiftness seen here, with broad, fluid strokes creating an appearance of unfinish. An early account states that Gainsborough painted this portrait in under an hour. He captured the young man's features just in time: Samuel died of fever on his first sailing at age eighteen.