Politics, people and preservation are closely linked in the collection. the portraits cover a vast area - some officially commissions, some presented or bequeathed - including politicians, military and naval commanders, and other people associated with the process of defending the United Kingdom over four hundred years.
The MOD Art Collection includes several hundred portraits of varying finesse and interest. All, even those of a lesser artistic technique and political sophistication, are cherished and hung in locations appropriate to their subjects.
James Inman was associated with the Matthew Flinder's expedition of 1801. Born in 1776, in Yorkshire, he was appointed to the position of astronomer on the "Investigator" voyage. In 1808 the Admiralty established the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, where Inman took up the post of Professor of Mathematics and Naval Architecture.
Later in life he moved to the Naval Academy at Portsmouth where he produced possibly the most famous textbook of the Royal Navy - "Navigation and Nautical Astronomy for the use of British Seaman" in 1821.
The accompanying tables - "Inman's Nautical Tables" underpinned the standard system in the Royal Navy and in many other navies for many years - well into the twentieth century.