Visual analysis of the portrait of Captain John Foote

Sir Joshua Reynolds was a specialist in portraits and he was also a painter. He was known as one of the major Europeans painters in the 18th century since he was the one who promoted the grand style in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. Sir Reynolds did many portraits of high class and well-known people during his time and also before him. One of the paintings that interest us is one of a kind of Captain John Foote. The portrait is a three-quarter length turbaned figure of Captain John Foote. It was developed during the period of Georgian during 1761-1765. ¹ The portrait is proof that still even on old ancient time great art was valued and the Mughal visual culture represented.

The portrait shows Captain John Foote wearing Indian Costumes, and his right hand rests on a stick while his left-hand lies on his sash. There is a rich drapery falling to the right of the portrait in the background. The painting is large since its canvas height and width are 127cm and 100 cm respectively. And the frame height is 150 cm while the width is 125 cm also the depth of the frame is 10 cm. Due to its large size, the portrait depicts the scale of the character because Captain John was a great man in the Mughal community. It also accompanies a text to define the power of the captains because he was a leader. ²

The painting brings a sense of depth that describes the captain in depth and also the community of Mughal because of the clothes and the turban he is wearing. The painter chooses to express the depth by using the symbolism of power by the clothes and the sash. As the portrait shows that the captain has his head held high portraying confidence that he had over his people as a leader. The architecture of the portrait figures into the discussion because of the architectural space used by the artist when creating the portrait. The background of the portrait there is spaced used to create other space such as the clouds and the sky seen behind the drapery falling. The architectural designs depict clearly that the artist is well skilled it paintings and also, he can create a masterpiece out of his imagination and develop a high valued portrait such as this one.

Furthermore, the artistic skills of the painter Joshua Reynolds are seen in the portrait because the picture of Captain John is symmetrical and clear. Also, the patterns chosen to be inserted into the picture are well drawn and developed. ³ However, I do not think the scale and size of the painting impacted on the skills of Sir. Reynolds. If the portrait was small with the skills that he had he would have also created a better piece of the portrait with a smaller scale and size.

Sir Reynolds uses quality canvas and oil paint to develop his portraits. Using these materials have an impact on the quality and clarity of his work. Using canvas and oil paint means that the portrait would last long for many years also, it will be of high quality and cannot get old easily. The artist uses the thick oil paint because other paints cannot be very clear on a canvas material. And also it cannot alter the surface of the canvas. ⁴ The paint is very visible because the artist uses different colors at the right proportion to develop the portrait and avoiding destroying it by using too much oil paint which might wet the canvas and destroy the portrait. By choosing such materials it suggests that the artist wanted the portrait to last long and also to be one of the best high-quality portraits, that is why he decided to choose better materials to draw the painting.

The picture shows clear indicators of light and dark because the artist has used colors which are bright hence the portrait is visible even when far. However, the use of colors on the portrait does not indicate that the painter is working with shadows because on the painting there are no visible shadows. The picture is clear and brightly visible in all dimensions because of the different varieties of colors that the artist has chosen to use. Sir Reynolds has used color in the portrait to indicate space. The aspect of space is seen in the background where the clouds and the sky are visible due to the white and blue color used on the portrait by the artist.

Furthermore, in the painting, the lines form either horizontal, diagonal or vertical are symmetrical indicating that the artist uses skills of architecture to present his work. ⁵ Also, it shows that the artist is skillful on his work. By the portrait, the artist is trying to convey the theme of authority in the Mughal community by creating a portrait of Captain John Foote wearing a high-quality Indian robe and a turban.

Combining research and the visual description it is clear that the artist had a well-researched background of Captain John Foote and also the Mughal community. Since the portrait well describes how the Captain used to dress and represent authority. Also, it represents the culture of the community. The use of deep red as a background does not indicate an attempt at perspective because the background only has a drapery falling behind Captain John Foote. ⁶ It indicates that the captain was inside his mansion at the palace. And the portraits depict the Captain as a person of honor in the community since he has a sash on his hand. The painting clearly indicates and proves that indeed Captain John Foote he is the British Officer of the Mughal community because of how he is dressed and also the turban on his head and the sash on his hand. At this point, the painter has developed a clear sense of the subject by representing different themes of the Mughal using just one portrait of Captain John Foote. Finally, according to his previous and other works of Sir Reynolds have a particular style that he uses in all his drawings, He must use materials that are of high quality such as canvas and oil paint which makes the portraits visible.|

Bibliography

1. Mayer, Tara. "Cultural Cross-Dressing: Posing and Performance in Orientalist Portraits." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, no. 2 (2012): 281-298.

2. Krysmanski, Bernd. "Benjamin Ralph's School of Raphael (1759): praise for Hogarth and a direct source for Reynolds." Journal for Eighteenth ‐ Century Studies 24, no. 1 (2001): 15-32.