A Gainsborough Sitter Identified: John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire

Katharine Baetjer's exemplary catalogue of British paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has brought together new information about the collection. Perhaps the most fruitful use of any catalogue is that it brings more information to light and encourages discussion. The sitter in one portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, described in the catalogue simply as "Portrait of a man," can now be positively identified. It is a likeness, dating from about 1784, of John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire (1723-93). [Abridged Publication Abstract]