John Singleton Copley, 1738–1815, American, active in Britain (from 1776)
Title:
General Thomas Gage
Date:
ca. 1768
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas mounted on masonite
Dimensions:
50 x 39 3/4 inches (127 x 101 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.45
Gallery Label:
John Singleton Copley painted this portrait of Thomas Gage in about 1768, when Gage was visiting Boston from his headquarters in New York. Gage was commander in chief of the British forces in North America and had begun stationing troops in American towns to quell unrest following outrage over the Stamp Act of 1765. Gage was in Boston with direct orders from George III to calm tensions over quartering soldiers in private residences. Copley represents him in full command, gesturing to soldiers performing orderly drills in the background. When finished, the portrait was displayed prominently in Gage’s New York house on Broad Street. It was Gage who ordered the fateful march on Concord in 1775 to seize the arms and powder of the local militia, which led to the skirmish at Lexington and the “shot heard round the world” that marked the opening hostilities of the American Revolutionary War. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016