Footnotes

Provenance
John Jervis, Admiral of the Fleet and 1st Earl of St Vincent (1734-1823).
Edward Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent (1767-1859).
Carnegie Robert Jervis, 3rd Viscount St Vincent (1825-1879).
John Leveson Jervis, 4th Viscount St Vincent (1850-1885).
Carnegie Parker Jervis, 5th Viscount St Vincent (1855-1908).
Ronald Clarges Jervis, 6th Viscount St Vincent (1859-1940).
Ronald James Jervis, 7th Viscount St Vincent (1905-2006).
Edward Jervis, 8th Viscount St Vincent (1951-2023), and by descent to the present owners.

Literature
A. Russett, Dominic Serres, R.A., 1719-1793; War Artist to the Navy, 1999, p.149, ill. pl.61 (the version in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia).

The event captured by Serres in this painting was a significant moment in English naval history of the 1780s. In 1782, the navy's smartest ship, the Foudroyant under the command of John Jervis (1735-1823) was part of vice-Admiral Barrington's squadron of 12 ships of the line lying off Brest. They spotted a French convoy leaving port and the Foudroyant succeeded in capturing the 74 gun French ship Pégase, the following day escorting her in to Portsmouth harbour. Although there were few English casualties in the skirmish, Jervis himself suffered a splinter wound to the face that was to dog him for years to come. He was elevated to Knight of the Bath in recognition of his actions, his coat of arms referencing his victory by incorporating a winged horse.

Serres has depicted the triumphal moment when the Pégase was led into Portsmouth to cheering crowds. His second son, Dominique Michael, was at the time a volunteer able-seaman on the Foudroyant, (possibly as a result of a friendship between Serres and Jervis), and it is entirely likely that Serres himself was there to witness an event that would have had a very personal significance for him; he would have been able to make sketches of the occasion, and indeed the painting was completed just a few months later.

Jervis went on to great success in his career and was promoted Admiral in 1795. In 1797, commanding Victory, he positioned his fleet off Cape St Vincent in Portugal with the aim of preventing Spanish ships from joining forces with the French and Dutch further north and taking control of the Channel. He and his protégé, Commodore Horatio Nelson, distinguished themselves by overpowering 27 Spanish ships of the line and nine frigates at the ensuing Battle of Cape St Vincent, despite being outnumbered two-to-one by the enemy. In recognition Jervis was created Baron Jervis of Meaford and Earl of St Vincent, a title suggested by King George III. He died without issue over 20 years later and his estate passed to his sister's son Edward Jervis Ricketts who changed his name to Jervis and inherited the Viscountcy, but the Earldom became extinct.

A smaller version of this composition is in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, suggesting that the present work may be the prime version.