John Belchier. Oil painting by or after O. Humphry.

1 painting : oil on canvas ; canvas 126 x 101.5 cm

The attribution to Ozias Humphry rests on the evidence of an engraving of this portrait by Walker, 1785, with attribution "Humphreys pinx.t" (Wellcome Collection 996i). Humphry was originally a miniature painter. However, "During the period 1777 to 1785 Humphry attempted to concentrate on oil painting, but without the success that he had enjoyed as a miniaturist before his trip to Italy. He failed to translate the qualities that lent such distinction to his miniatures—elegant and inventive compositions, rich colouring, and a grandeur in the presentation of his sitters reminiscent of Reynolds—to the medium of oil" (Oxford dictionary of national biography)

Christopher Wright et al., British and Irish paintings in public collections, New Haven and London: Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2006, p. 201

Wellcome Collection 45550i