Thomas Gainsborough

Abel Moysey

c.1764

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

Not on display
Artist
Thomas Gainsborough 1727–1788
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Support: 578 x 457 mm
frame: 839 x 719 x 83 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by H.G. and the Rev. F.L. Moysey 1861
Reference
N00678

Display caption

Abel Moysey was a well-known doctor based in the fashionable spa town of Bath, where Gainsborough was also worked. Gainsborough painted this portrait in lieu of doctor’s fees, presumably for the treatment he received after a bout of venereal disease, contracted from prostitutes in London in 1763.  

Moysey is shown looking dreamily into the distance, as if he was unaware of being painted. He is every bit the ‘man of feeling’.

Gallery label, September 2004

Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

Explore

You might like

formerly attributed to Thomas Gainsborough, ‘‘The Parish Clerk’ (Edward Orpin, Parish Clerk of Bradford-upon-Avon)’ c.1760–70

Formerly attributed to Thomas Gainsborough ‘The Parish Clerk’ (Edward Orpin, Parish Clerk of Bradford-upon-Avon)

c.1760–70
N00760
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘An Officer of the 16th Light Dragoons’ c.1765

Thomas Gainsborough An Officer of the 16th Light Dragoons

c.1765
T00642
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Sir Francis Gregg’ c.1770

Thomas Gainsborough Sir Francis Gregg

c.1770
N05925
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Peter Darnell Muilman, Charles Crokatt and William Keable in a Landscape’ c.1750

Thomas Gainsborough Peter Darnell Muilman, Charles Crokatt and William Keable in a Landscape

c.1750
T06746
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Sir Benjamin Truman’ c.1770–4

Thomas Gainsborough Sir Benjamin Truman

c.1770–4
T02261
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘John Needham, 10th Viscount Kilmorey’ c.1768

Thomas Gainsborough John Needham, 10th Viscount Kilmorey

c.1768
N04777
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Edward Richard Gardiner’ c.1760–8

Thomas Gainsborough Edward Richard Gardiner

c.1760–8
T00727
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘The Rev. John Chafy Playing the Violoncello in a Landscape’ c.1750–2

Thomas Gainsborough The Rev. John Chafy Playing the Violoncello in a Landscape

c.1750–2
T03895
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘The Artist’s Daughter Margaret’ c.1772

Thomas Gainsborough The Artist’s Daughter Margaret

c.1772
N01482
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘The Rev. Sir Henry Bate-Dudley, Bart’ c.1780

Thomas Gainsborough The Rev. Sir Henry Bate-Dudley, Bart

c.1780
N01044
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Mr and Mrs Carter’ c.1747–8

Thomas Gainsborough Mr and Mrs Carter

c.1747–8
T12609
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Sir William Blackstone’ 1774

Thomas Gainsborough Sir William Blackstone

1774
N02637
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Landscape with Gipsies’ c.1753–4

Thomas Gainsborough Landscape with Gipsies

c.1753–4
N05845
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Wooded Landscape with a Peasant Resting’ c.1747

Thomas Gainsborough Wooded Landscape with a Peasant Resting

c.1747
N01283
Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Gainsborough Dupont’ c.1770–5

Thomas Gainsborough Gainsborough Dupont

c.1770–5
N06242