The Riding School

It has been suggested that the figure in the red jacket was painted by Richard Brompton (1734-1783). Following his return to England from Italy in circa 1766, Brompton collaborated with David Morier, the Swiss-born painter who had himself arrived in England in 1743 and subsequently served as limner to the Duke of Cumberland from 1752-64. Brompton provided the portraits for a number of Morier's compositions, including three at Wilton House where he also undertook restoration on Van Dyck's Portrait of the Pembroke family (see F. Russell, A catalogue of the pictures and drawings at Wilton House, Oxford, 2021, pp. 108-109, nos. 178-179). Brompton's artistic career could not keep pace with his extravagance; he was brought before the Court of the King's Bench in 1779 and subsequently confined in the debtor's prison, a fate that befell Morier a decade earlier. Brompton was rescued by Catherine the Great of Russia and summonsed to Saint Petersburg, where he was appointed court painter in July 1780. He remained there until his death in 1783.

We are grateful to Dr Andrew Cormack for his thoughts on the painting.