It depicts the British politician Francis Osborne, Duke of Leeds who served as foreign secretary between 1783 and 1791 in the government of Pitt the Younger.

[1] It was begun in 1791 shortly after the Duke was awarded the Order of the Garter after his resignation from the Foreign Office, but took several years to complete.

It helped revive the career of the young Lawrence who had recently received poor reviews after his earlier, breakthrough successes.

Lawrence went on to become the leading portrait painter of the Regency era and in 1820 was elected as President of the Royal Academy The portrait shows the Duke of Leeds at full length, with his Yorkshire property Hornby Castle in the background.

[3] Today the painting is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford having been acquired in 2014 through acceptance in lieu.