George Sanders is an undistinguished Scottish miniaturist and portrait painter, but this one painting guarantees his fame. It was commissioned by the sitter for 250 guineas as a present for his mother and was begun in 1807, probably to commemorate a trip to the Hebrides which Byron was then planning. Byron was still discussing this portrait and its frame after his departure from England in July 1809; his mother wrote on 26 October 1810 that it had arrived safely three weeks before. Its subsequent owners were distinguished members of Byron’s court: John Murray (1778-1843) and John Hobhouse (1786-1869).

This is the undisputed original of one of the most famous portraits of the poet; wide circulation of engraved versions meant that it became the quintessential image of the most influential hero of the Romantic movement. The youth in red is thought to be Robert Rushton who entered Byron’s service in 1808. Byron is shown standing on a rocky seashore with a boy with a dinghy; in the background to the right is a ship flying the red ensign.