Lady Johnstone, wife of the Governor of Menorca, c.1771 (oil on canvas)

Lady Johnstone, wife of the Governor of Menorca accompanied by officers of the 25th Regiment of Foot and the Royal Navy, and a naval seaman, 1771 (c). One of a set of six unsigned oil paintings on canvas attributed to Giuseppe Chiesa (d 1789), 1771 (c). Lady Johnstone [at centre], riding a brown mule, wears a Scottish bonnet and a red, gold-laced waistcoat under her white coat with matching skirt, an undress version of an officer’s dress. In the distance are the fortifications of Phillipet, with St Philip’s Castle on the horizon. The 25th Regiment of Foot was stationed in Menorca from 6 June 1769 until 1775, one of several regiments garrisoned there to maintain British control of this important Mediterranean base, regained from Spain at the end of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). This series of paintings depicting the 25th Regiment of Foot during its service in Menorca originally belonged to Lord George Lennox, (1737-1805), who was colonel of the regiment 1762-1805.