[1] It depicts the British general and politician John Campbell, Duke of Argyll, a prominent figure during the reigns of Queen Anne and George I. Argyll was noted for his military service during the War of the Spanish Succession and his command of pro-Hanoverian forces during the Jacobite Rising of 1715.

Argyll supported Aikman when he arrived in London, and the artist partly made his name by painting the Duke and other Campbells.

[2] Until his early death in 1731 Aikman was one the capital's leading portraitists.

[3] The painting remained in the possession of the Dukes of Argyll at Hamilton Palace until 1882.

Today it is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, having been acquired in 1885.