A half-length portrait facing to the right in armour and a brown full-bottomed wig, on an oval stretcher and in an oval frame. The artist has detailed the lace collar and created highlights on the face, armour, lace and the red cloth (probably a sash or cloak) in the left foreground.

Clements's career from 1667 to 1689 was almost entirely in command of royal yachts. As captain of the 'Expedition', 70 guns, in the during King William's War, he fought in the Anglo-Dutch fleet against the French at the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690. His last command was the 96-gun 'St Andrew' and, probably under the patronage of Queen Anne's husband and Lord High Admiral, Prince George of Denmark, he was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1704. He died within a few months, after which his widow presented this portrait to the Hospital. It is the first painting which it owned.

A pupil of Lely, Greenhill in his early work showed a dependence on his master that he later overcame. His early death by a drunken accident cut short a promising career. The inscription 'Lt. Govr. Clements', top right, is a later addition.