A full-length portrait described in the caption as an image of Samuel Hood, first Viscount Hood (1724–1816). The figure wears captain’s (over three years) full-dress uniform, 1795–1812, with the Nile medal, the ribbon and star of the Order of the Bath and the neck ribbon and decoration of the Sicilian Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit. His empty right sleeve is pinned to his waist. He leans on a rock with an anchor beside it and a ship’s mast and rigging to the right, with more ships at sea in the background. Lettered beneath the image, ‘Lord Visconte Hood’, and ‘G. B. Bosio dis. / Rinaldi inc.’ The makers of this Italian print have apparently confused the identity of the sitter. The decorations and missing arm clearly identify the individual in this portrait as Sir Samuel Hood, first Baronet (1762–1814), rather than Samuel Hood, first Viscount Hood (1724–1816). Sir Samuel Hood was Viscount Hood’s cousin and entered the navy under his patronage in 1776. Sir Samuel fought under Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. In spring 1799, he was employed in the defence of Salerno, for which he was awarded the Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit by the King of the Two Sicilies. He was commander-in-chief in the Leeward Islands in 1802–4 and was appointed to the Order of the Bath on 26 September 1804. He lost his right arm in an engagement with French frigates off Rochefort in September 1805. (Updated May 2019.)
Technique includes stipple.