Display caption
Portrait of a Boy, 18th century
After Arthur Devis (1712 – 1787)
MCC Collection, accession unknown
Oil on canvas
TN.2008.2326
The un-named subject of this portrait is shown holding a bat of 18th century design. Its shape, retaining a slight hint of the early 18th century curve, suggests perhaps the 1770s as the likely period of this painting. Arthur Devis made his name in the mid-18th century as a painter of family portraits, with the subjects often depicted in idealised, and imaginary, English landscapes. By the 1770s his style was seen as old-fashioned and he turned to art restoration for his living.
