Portrait of the Reverend Dr. John Wingfield (1760-1825), Canon of Worcester Cathedral, half-length, in a black gown and white bands

John Constable is best known for his brilliant oil sketches and naturalistic landscapes, but he also excelled at capturing likenesses. This work, completed in 1818, comes from an incredibly fruitful moment in Constable’s portrait production, perhaps driven by his desire to support his young family with his painting career. Although the circumstances of the commission of the present portrait are not known, it is possible that the Reverend Doctor John Wingfield was connected to the artist via Henry Griswold Lewis, whose portrait he painted in 1809. Wingfield served as a master, and later Headmaster, at Westminster School, before becoming a canon at Worcester Cathedral. It is interesting to note that, after passing through a number a sales at Christie’s, this painting was acquired by Professor William George Constable, a relative of the artist, and the son of a Headmaster at Derby School. After serving in the First World War, William George Constable went on to become an art historian, and later curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.