Commodore George Johnstone had a mixed career as a naval commander and politician. Governor of Western Florida from 1763, a member of Parliament from 1768, and one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate with the American Colonies in 1778, he had a reputation as a hot-tempered dualist and, although courageous, he seems to have lacked judgement. Although this is a beautifully painted miniature, with meticulously rendered textures, the artist still manages to convey something of Johnstone's rather tricky character.