The Gentlemen at Arms (The Royal Bodyguard), 1892.

Arthur Felix Temple Clay

Gents at Arms

MOD3453 - oil on canvas, 350cm x 261cm.

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.

This huge group portrait (the figures are a little over life size) shows the Gentlemen standing around the throne in St James' Palace. Each officer appointed to this role (an honorary one) had served either in the Crimean War or in the Indian Mutiny. The artist presented the portrait to the War Office in 1902, where it hung for many years outside the office of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. It now hangs in a military establishment in Wiltshire.






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