Thomas Linley the elder

"Thomas Linley (1733-1795) gained an outstanding reputation in eighteenth-century Bath and London as a musician and musical entrepreneur. A notable teacher, he especially succeeded in training his own gifted family as musicians. He was a close friend of Gainsborough, who painted several members of the family.

Linley was also a well known composer, and here he holds his Elegies for Three Voices, printed in 1770. In 1776 he moved from Bath to London, to work as musical director of the Drury Lane Theatre.
Painted in a light pastel-like technique, the portrait conveys something of Linley’s ‘dark, stern, gigantic’ manner."