Lawrence was in his day one of the best portrait painters in Britain and one of the best in the world. He was basically self-taught (he could render remarkable likenesses in pencil when he was ten years old) and attended the Royal Academy schools for only three months in 1787. He showed his portraits each year from 1787 until 1830 in the Royal Academy exhibits. His talent and reputation were such that in 1792 he was recognized by the King to succeed Sir Joshua Reynolds as "Painter in Ordinary," and his portraits of royalty and aristocracy kept him busy throughout his career. Several of his portraits, as these represented here, were of actors in costume for their parts.