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

people(35,419)
- actions: postures and motions(9,130)
  - head in hand / hands(269)
- adults(23,093)
  - man(10,665)
- named individuals(12,452)
  - Moysey, Abel(1)
- portraits(4,370)
  - individuals: male(1,895)
work and occupations(14,327)
- public service(751)
  - politician, Member of Parliament(96)

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, ‘Sir Francis Gregg’ c.1770

Thomas Gainsborough Sir Francis Gregg

c.1770

N05925

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, ‘Gainsborough Dupont’ c.1770–5

Thomas Gainsborough Gainsborough Dupont

c.1770–5

N06242

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 Artist’s Daughter Margaret’ c.1772

Thomas Gainsborough The Artist’s Daughter Margaret

c.1772

N01482

Thomas Gainsborough, ‘Sir William Blackstone’ 1774

Thomas Gainsborough Sir William Blackstone

1774

N02637

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, ‘Landscape with Gipsies’ c.1753–4

Thomas Gainsborough Landscape with Gipsies

c.1753–4

N05845

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 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, ‘Wooded Landscape with a Peasant Resting’ c.1747

Thomas Gainsborough Wooded Landscape with a Peasant Resting

c.1747

N01283