Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely, and his Wife Anne Bonfoy, Countess of Ely

In 1775 Henry Loftus, Earl of Ely, an Anglo-Irish politician in his mid-sixties who had spent a fortune remodelling Rathfarnham Castle outside Dublin, married for the second time. His bride, Anne Bonfoy, was in her early twenties, and he hired Reynolds to mark the match. The pair walk arm in arm through the grounds of a country house in their best silk, lace and silver braid. Her tall headdress of ostrich plumes gives away the real occasion, her presentation at the court of King George III and Queen Charlotte. The setting divides the roles in the usual way of the time, with classical architecture behind the earl for authority and learning, and open landscape around the countess. He died eight years later. The canvas belongs to the National Trust at Upton House and is on loan to the National Gallery.