Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois

Sir Peter Francis BourgeoisPeter Francis Bourgeois (1753 1811) was a painter and collector. He was born in London of a Swiss father, the watchmaker Isaac Bourgeois (1726 93) and English mother. This painting is probably the 'Portrait of an artist' exhibited at the RA in 1794, identified in an annotated copy of the catalogue as Bourgeois (National Gallery Library). It is presumably also the portrait of Bourgeois that Northcote listed as painted in 1795, which was engraved in

1790 - the sitter appears a few years older than in the self-portrait dated 1785 in the National Portrait Gallery

was an aid to prayer

A comparable composition by Calraet is in the Rijksmuseum

and of his family

which James Boaden acquired from an émigré during the French Revolution and subsequently gave to Desenfans ('Memoirs of the Life of John Philip Kemble'

but only a B (or cB in monogram) is now visible

Probably the Hunting of the Royal Tiger exhibited at the RA in 1787

A reduced replica

The relative untidiness of the scene might suggest a certain moral disapproval - the footwarmer is worn through

but his special status - he was already an established master in his own right - is demonstrated by the fact that he did not scruple to 'improve' the composition to suit his own ideas

The events around the birth and nurture of the infant Jupiter are described by four ancient Greek and Latin poets: Hesiod

Art Gallery and Museum