Commodore the Hon. Augustus Hervey, later Vice-Admiral, and 3rd Earl of Bristol (1724-1779)

In the summer of 1762, near the end of the Seven Years' War, a British fleet spent two months besieging Havana and finally stormed the Morro, the great fortress guarding its harbour. It was one of the war's richest prizes, and Augustus Hervey was there, commanding a warship in the attack. A few years later, back in England, he had Gainsborough paint him like this, standing nearly life-size in his naval uniform, and the picture points quietly back to Havana as the proudest day of his career. Gainsborough loads it with the marks of the man's rank, the sword half hidden in his coat, a fob at the waist, a signet ring on the little finger. It was made for the Hervey family seat at Ickworth in Suffolk, now a National Trust house.