About this painting

George Stubbs
Whistlejacket, about 1762
Oil on canvas, 292 x 246.4 cm
© The National Gallery, London, Bought with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, 1997
NG6569

Whistlejacket was foaled in 1749, and his most famous victory was in a race over four miles for 2000 guineas at York in August 1759.

The original painting hung in the gallery was painted in about 1762 for the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Whistlejacket's owner and a great patron of Stubbs.

According to some writers of the period the original intention was to commission an equestrian portrait of George III, but it is more likely that Stubbs always intended to show the horse alone rearing up against a neutral background.

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