Born in Ruabon, North Wales in 1750, John Downman was the son of Francis Downman, an attorney, and Charlotte Goodend, the daugther of the private secretary to George I. Downman moved to London at the age of seventeen, becoming a pupil of the American painter Benjamin West and subsequently one of the first thirty-six students to enroll at the Royal Academy School in 1769. John Downman first exhibited at the R.A. in 1770 before a tour of Italy with Joseph Wright of Derby from 1773-1775. On his return, he worked for periods in Cambridge and Exeter before returning to London in 1779. He quickly acquired a reputation as one of the most fashionable portraitists of the period and his sitters included members of the Royal Family, the Duchesses ...