A three-quarter-length portrait to left in captain's (over three years) full-dress uniform 1774-87. The anchor motif is visible on some of the buttons on his jacket and cuffs. The artist has suggested the naval background of the sitter by placing him in front of a rocky outcrop on his right and by showing a ship in a storm on the left. Gell commanded the 'Monarca', 68 guns, during Admiral Sir Edward Hughes's five actions against the Bailli de Suffren off the eastern coast of India in 1782 and took part in Hood's occupation of Toulon in 1793. The portrait was painted for Admiral Hughes and after passing to Sir Hugh Palliser, the Governor of Greenwich Hospital, was bequeathed to it by him in 1796.

In 1740 Reynolds was apprenticed to the portrait painter Thomas Hudson (1701-90) and after early work in his native Devon travelled to Italy in 1749. In 1753 he set up in London and rapidly began to make a name as portrait painter, profoundly influenced by his time in Italy. He became the first President of the Royal Academy in 1768 and was knighted in 1769. He was the most influential figure of the century in elevating British painting and portraiture. Reynolds borrowed poses from the old masters and by 1759 he had created social portraits in a new style that were deemed fresh and modern, and yet dignified the status of the sitter.