Oil on canvas in Georgian giltwood frame.A charming small scale portrait of a young midshipman in the Royal Navy at the end of the 18th century, probably painted for the boy''s parents before he joined his ship. England was engaged in a long and bloody war with France and the navy was our first line of defence. The life of a midshipman on a man-of-war could be very short indeed. As an apprentice officer the youth was expected to be able to climb the riggiing to act as a lookout, learn navigation and seamanship, command one of the ship''s boats and in action he would command a group of the ship''s guns, or take charge of signals or act as a messenger for the captain.A lot of responsibility and risk at a very young age, but if he lived and rose through merit he could achieve high rank.The good-looking sitter, sensitively painted, looks out at the viewer, his pensive gaze encouraging thoughts of his extreme youth and vulnerability on active service at sea, but the boy ...