ENGLISH SCHOOL circa 1790, entourage of Joshua REYNOLDS - Lot 139

ENGLISH SCHOOL circa 1790, entourage of Joshua REYNOLDS Portrait of Peter Downes (1778-1798) Canvas. 127 x 102 cm Label on reverse Mr Peter Downes / at the age of 19 / killed in the leander August 18.1798 / painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds / Stroganoff Collection Provenance : Stroganoff Collection. Peter Downes died in Crete during the naval battle between HMS Leander and the French ship-of-the-line Généreux on August 18, 1798. Both ships had taken part in the Battle of Aboukir three weeks earlier, in which the British fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson destroyed the French fleet in the Bay of Aboukir, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Le Généreux was one of only four French ships to survive the battle, while Leander was detached from the British fleet by Nelson on August 6. The background of our painting recalls this marginal episode in the Franco-English naval wars, which cost the young Downes his life. The painting may have been commissioned by Peter Downes' siblings, who are known to have presented a large silver dish to the captain of HMS Leander, Thomas Boulden Thompson (1766-1828), in memory of their late brother. This memorial object is now kept at the National Maritim Museum in Greenwich (ref.: PLT0179).