NICHOLAS J. T. FREESE

It has not been possible to identify the regiment of this officer from his uniform, even though Freese afforded a high level of detail in painting specific parts of his uniform. He wears a red coat, with buff coloured facings and silver buttons. On his shoulders are silver epaulettes with silver lace, and around his chest he wears a shoulder belt-plate. The gentleman’s face is particularly distinctive and demonstrates the fact that Freese wished to capture his sitters as they looked, and did not follow a strict ‘pattern’ in his faces. 

Freese is an artist who, despite his evident capabilities as a portrait miniature painter, remains somewhat of an enigma. He exhibited at the Royal Academy 1794-1814 where he is listed simply as a ‘painter’, suggesting that he did not work exclusively in the miniature medium. He appears to have exhibited landscapes too, including views of Warwickshire as well as subjects taken from mythological narrative such as ‘Salmacis and Hermaphroditus’ from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He also exhibited a self-portrait in 1802 [whereabouts unknown], as well as a portrait of ‘Mrs Freese’, presumably his wife, in 1813. His work is represented in several national museums including a portrait of a young man by Freese in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge [PD.208-1961].