An Officer on Horseback

Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) captures a moment of stillness amid the chaos of battle. A soldier, dressed for battle, rears his horse. In the distance, plumes of smoke reach towards the sky, alerting the viewer to the danger.  

This study for an equestrian portrait was the third composition Reynolds painted onto the same piece of canvas. Two abandoned portraits are visible in the X-ray of the painting – one of a young boy above the horse’s mane, the other an older man, now upside down, just below. The picture remained in Reynolds’ possession and was acquired by the painter and founder of Dulwich Picture Gallery, Francis Bourgeois (1753-1811), at the Reynolds studio sale of 1796.