Robert Dingley, by William Hoare

Robert Dingley (1710-1781) was a wealthy British silk merchant and philanthropist who traded with Russia and travelled throughout Europe. William Hoare presented a three-quarter lenght portrait of Robert Dingley to the Magdalen Charity, whom he helped found. I compared the painting to my assigned piece and identified several resemblances (the coiffure, the clothing and the facial features). The similitudes confirmed William Hoare created the sketch for Robert Dingley’s portrait. The book held by Robert Dingley in the portrait is entitled An account of the rise, progress, and present state of the Magdalen Charity with the rules and list of subscribers. On page 329, Robert Dingley is acknowledged as one of the charity’s principal governors, explaining why he would hold the book in his portrait. W.Faden published it in 1766.  This discredits the National Portrait Gallery’s dating of John Dixon's engraving of Robert Dingley's portrait. It could not possibly have been created in 1762, prior to the publication date of the book held in the portrait itself. Furthermore, it discredits the Leger Gallery, which claimed the three-quarter-length portrait of Robert Dingley was presented to the Magdalen Charity in 1762. While my research does not provide any historical information on the portrait study, it allows me to delineate the creation of Robert Dingley’s portrait to after 1766. Therefor, the portrait study was created between 1760 and 1766.