Hoppner was the son of a German physician working at the court of George II; he was encouraged to become a painter by George III, studying drawings in the Royal Collection as well as attending the RA Schools. In 1793, after the death of Reynolds, Hoppner was appointed Principal Portrait Painter to the Prince of Wales. Nelson stands on a rocky seashore, leaning on a rock, wearing the full-dress uniform of a Rear-Admiral with orders and decorations; behind is a view of the naval bombardment of Copenhagen. The low view point and storm clouds apparently gathered around the sitter's head are devices learned from Reynolds's depiction of heroes. This portrait must have been commissioned in 1801 with sittings taken during Nelson’s time in England in the summer of that year; in 24 March 1802 Farington records in his diary that Hoppner intended to send the portrait to the Royal Academy, though in the end he failed to do so. For the remainder of his life this portraits seems to have remained with Hoppner allowing him to execute many copies. The original is one of four full-length portraits of naval heroes acquired by George IV, two by Reynolds and two by Hoppner (RCIN 405899, 405900, 405901, 405902). The set of four frames were provided by Edward Wyatt (1757-1833) in 1808. The two Hoppner portraits in the series (RCIN 405901 and 405902) were delivered after his death by his widow in 1810. These two hung in the 1820s in the East Anti Room of Carlton House in a group of four Hoppner full lengths (RCIN 405408, 405410, 405901, 405902) all then valued at 200 guineas. In 1832 the ‘naval series’ (RCIN 405899, 405900, 405901 and 405902) was reunited at St James’s Palace where they remain to this day.