William Hoare

William Hoare created the drawing Portrait Head (Robert Dingley) circa 1760. My research indicates that the drawing was created as a study for a portrait of Robert Dingley by William Hoare. An engraving of the portrait is currently in the Prints and Drawing Department of the National British Museum. 

William Hoare of Bath was born in Suffolk in 1707. He received an exemplary education and showed an aptitude for drawing. At the age of 8, William Hoare was sent to London to study under Giuseppe Grisoni, whom he then followed to Italy in the late 1720s. In Rome, William Hoare continued his artistic studies under the direction of Francesco Imperiali. He then returned to London in an attempt to establish himself as an artist in 1738 but left the capital shortly after. William Hoare flocked to Bath along the wealthier British classes, where he met his bride-to-be, Elizabeth Barker.  His Roman training combined with his own English reticence and his wife’s many social connections led to his success as a portraitist in Bath, a popular spa town. portraitist became a member of the Society of Arts, with the encouragements of his close friend, Robert Dingley, who was also a member. William Hoare was also connected to Robert Dingley through the Magdalen Hospital for fallen woman and the Marine Society for the training of seaman. Hoare died in 1792. 

Newby, Evelyn (1986). "The Hoares of Bath". Bath History 1: 90–127. 

Evelyn Newby, ‘Hoare, William (1707/8–1792)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009