George Hay, 8th Marquis of Tweeddale KT GCB — 'A Peninsular Veteran'

Carlo Pellegrini ('Ape') presents the elderly Marquis of Tweeddale in profile, wedged into a carriage box, reins loosely gathered in yellow-gloved hands. The grey top hat, fur-collared greatcoat, and ruddy, jowled face mark him as a man of rank well past his active years. The caption 'Peninsular Veteran' is the whole argument: Tweeddale fought under Wellington in the Iberian campaigns of 1808–14, and by 1876 such survivors were living relics of a heroic generation fast disappearing. Pellegrini's caricature is affectionate rather than hostile — the bulk and stillness of the sitter suggesting distinguished obsolescence, a titled old soldier content to be driven rather than to ride.