John Dodd, of Swallowfield, Berkshire
Artist: John Vanderbank (English, 1694–1739)
Date: 1739
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, United States
Description
At the age of three, the future Whig Member of Parliament John Dodd (1717–1782) of Swallowfield, near Reading, Berkshire, inherited a fortune in property from his father and, a year later, inherited a further, enormous fortune from the widow of his great-uncle, Sir Samuel Dodd, who had been Chief Baron of the Exchequer. In adult life he lived comfortably, pouring much of his wealth into a somewhat sluggish political career. In this painting, John Vanderbank portrays Dodd with his elegant greyhound as a promising, well-dressed young man, aged twenty-two. Trained by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Vanderbank enjoyed a high reputation as an artist in his short career, but he died heavily in debt due to an extravagant and dissolute lifestyle at age forty-five.