Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol (1724-79) with his Mother, Two Sisters and their Husbands...

This picture was traditionally called ‘Captain the Hon. Augustus Hervey (1724-1779) taking leave of his family’, but it probably shows the Hon. Mrs Constantine Phipps being led to greet her brother. Also painted in this scene are: Capt. the Hon. Augustus Hervey, later 3rd Earl of Bristol (1724-1779); Mary Lepel, Lady Hervey (1700-1768); Constantine Phipps, later 1st Baron Mulgrave (1722-75); the Hon. Lepel Hervey, Mrs Phipps (later Lady Mulgrave) (1722-1780); the Hon. Mary Hervey, Mrs Fitzgerald (1726-1815); and George Fitzgerald, M.P. It is baffling that the scene takes place on the quayside, yet one provided with chairs and embellished with columns and curtains. It seems possible that this is a stage-set, and the family are enacting some sort of domestic drama. The portrait was commissioned by Mary, Lady Hervey in Paris in 1750, but completed in England. While the composition is due to Gravelot, his assistant is likely to have been employed on draperies, etc.