Portrait of Mrs Paterson, three-quarter length, wearing a pink satin dress with green sash, leaning against a stone plinth in a landscape. Oil on canvas in a period giltwood frame. Circa 1770.

Nathaniel Dance (London 1735-1811 Winchester) was the third son of the architect George Dance the Elder. He became a pupil of Francis Hayman from c.1749, travelling to Rome in 1754 where he remained until 1765. There he collaborated with Pompeo Batoni who influenced his work, painting several historic and classical paintings and he also met and became an admirer of the artist Angelica Kauffmann. On his return to England he became a successful portrait painter. With Francis Hayman and his brother George, he was one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. He was commissioned to paint King George III and the Queen, and some of his other sitters included Captain James Cook and actor David Garrick. In the 1770's he gained an inheritance and gave up painting in 1782, remaining a prominent figure in the art world until 1790 when he resigned from the Royal Academy and became an MP in Sussex. In 1800 he adopted the surname Holland (from one of his wife's relatives) and later that year was created a Baronet.