A half-length portrait slightly to right, wearing captain's undress uniform, over three years, 1795-1812. In 1795, when in command of the 'Nemesis', 28 guns, and while at anchor in the neutral port of Smyrna (Izmar), Linzee and his ship were captured by the French. They were subsequently blockaded and the 'Nemesis' was retaken. In 1801, he was in the 'Zealous' 74 guns, when it was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Thomas Totty in the North Sea. In 1805, Linzee was in command of the 'Warrior', 74 guns, with Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder's squadron. This engaged the Franco-Spanish combined fleet on 22 July off Ferrol, where the 'Warrior' and 'Dragon' were not fully in action and the only ships to have no casualties. Calder took the brunt of the action and never served again. Linzee rose to be a Vice-Admiral despite a career lacking substantial engagements.

Shee was born in Dublin and studied there. He settled in London in 1788, and his working life spanned the Regency and early Victorian periods. His early work, of which this is an example, shows a strong debt to Hoppner and Lawrence. He succeeded Lawrence as President of the Royal Academy in 1830. The portrait is signed and dated 1802 on the reverse of the canvas.