A sketch for an equestrian portrait. The composition derives from Bernini's equestrian statue of Louis XIV (Versailles). An underlying portrait of a young man is clearly visible above the horse's mane as first detected in the nineteenth century by the copyist W.S. Spanton. This has been confirmed by x-ray which also shows a second portrait, this time of a middle-aged man, below that of the young man. The picture remained in Reynolds's possession and was acquired by Bourgeois at the Reynolds studio sale of 1796.