The Reverend Ozias Thurston Linley

Years after its acquisition in 1835, this painting was allegedly re-discovered ‘in or near’ Dulwich Picture Gallery’s mausoleum in 1873 and incorrectly identified as showing Noël Desenfans (1745–1807), one of the Gallery’s founders. It was not until 1953 that the mystery of the sitter’s identity was solved as being that of Ozias Thurston Linley (1765–1831), and the portrait reattributed to British artist, Archer Oliver (1774–1842). A successful portraitist, Oliver had a studio in New Bond Street, London, producing standard half-length portraits, mainly of worthy gentleman, soberly dressed and conventional in their demeanour. Many of his works were reproduced as engravings, and a monochromatic quality is evident in this portrayal of Ozias Linley. However, Ozias’s appearance breaks the mould of Oliver’s regular sitters. Here, he has caught an air of Romanticism, with Ozias’s slightly unkempt locks swept across a high forehead, reflecting the Regency trend for classical hairstyles inspired by Roman antiquities. His fashionable sideburns frame his face, where the earnest set of his mouth perhaps reflects something of his renowned argumentative character. His sister-in-law, Betsy Sheridan (1758–1837), described him in 1789 as ‘a rather handsome young man [with] a sensible countenance’ and ‘an invincible gravity of manner’, which seems to perfectly describe the enigmatic character in this portrait painted a few years later.

Noted as the most intellectual of the musical Linley family, Ozias pursued a different path, excelling more in mathematics than singing or composing. Painted when he was in his late thirties, this portrait shows him at a point in his career when he was a minor canon at Norwich Cathedral and vicar at Holy Cross Church in Stoke, South Norfolk. In 1816, Linley became Junior Fellow and Organist of Dulwich College, where, realising that he had no more need of them, he apparently instructed his housemaid to light fires with copies of his old sermons. Known by his family as ‘The Philosopher’, he had a fondness for intellectual dispute and was affectionately known for his lively discussions. On one occasion it was reported by a friend of Linley’s that in the heat of an intellectual debate, ‘he spoke so loud as to make the dining hall resound, and struck the table so violently with his clenched fist as to put the glasses and decanters in serious jeopardy.’