Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton
Not on view
This full-length portrait represents the British cavalry hero "Bloody Tarleton," shown during the American War of Independence. Wearing the uniform of his troop, Tarleton's Green Horse, the subject draws his sword while bracing one foot against a canon, as a groom restrains horses before billlowing smoke. After returning to England early in 1782, Tarleton sat to Reynolds for the work acclaimed at the Royal Academy later in the year. Smith's freely executed mezzotint conveys the energy of the painting.
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