Richard Humphreys

Richard Humphreys, the gentleman boxer tipped to become Champion was foiled in his attempt by Daniel Mendoza. Their rivalry fostered a golden age of English boxing and their fights generated more public interest than any other sporting event of the 18th century. Their contrasting styles and skills, Humphreys the clean-cut athlete with his upright stance, and Mendoza both flamboyant in his appearance and style of boxing, enhanced the spectacle. The two fell out after Humphreys persuaded Mendoza’s backer to withdraw his patronage. Mendoza never forgave him.

John Hoppner was born at Whitechapel, London on 4 April 1758. Starting life as a chorister in the Chapel Royal, he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1775. Initially a landscapist, he soon began painting portraits which he first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780. He was elected an Associate of the Academy in 1793 and a full member in 1795. A parental connection with the palace had led to Royal commissions, including painting a portrait of the Prince of Wales in 1789. An imitator of Sir Joshua Reynolds and the rival of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Hoppner’s best portraits were of women and children. In all, he exhibited 168 paintings at the Royal Academy, ceasing to do so in 1807 due partly to ill-health. He died in London on 23 January 1810, aged fifty-one.