Carla Passino’s article recounts the remarkable history behind the picture, which depicts an episode from April 1782 during the American War of Independence. Off Ushant, HMS Foudroyant, under the command of Captain John Jervis, captured the French 74-gun Pégase. Shortly afterwards, Foudroyant escorted her prize into Portsmouth Harbour, where hundreds had gathered to witness their arrival.
Dominic Serres was probably among the crowd. His son, Dominique Michael Serres, was serving aboard Foudroyant, giving the artist a particularly close connection to the event. Serres shows the victorious ship sailing into Portsmouth Harbour with the jury-rigged Pégase behind her, seen against the harbour from Gosport.
Two versions of the composition are known. One is today in the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. The larger painting, now with us, was probably commissioned by John Jervis, who was made a Knight of the Bath following the victory and later became 1st Earl of St Vincent. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793 before descending through the family and disappearing from public view.
As James Mitchell explained to Country Life, the painting “never left the family until last year and, in fact, had been hidden in a loft.” It eventually resurfaced at Bonhams in April 2025.
Now restored and offered by John Mitchell Fine Paintings, the painting represents an important rediscovery in the work of one of the finest marine painters of the eighteenth century. Beyond its considerable quality as a marine painting, its unusually direct connection with the events it records makes its reappearance all the more compelling.
We are grateful to Country Life and Carla Passino for featuring the painting and its history.
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