Hood commanded a division of Howe's fleet at the relief of Gibraltar in 1782 and was his third-in-command at the Battle of the First of June, 1794. In 1795, while commanding the Channel fleet, he fought a partial action with the French fleet off the Ile de Groix. The setting contributes to the artist's intention to show the sitter retaining his elevated status and aristocratic bearing even in the midst of war. Reynolds's naval portraits brought together the nationalism, formality and rigid social hierarchy of eighteenth-century British society. This depiction of Hood states the authority and confidence of the sitter and combines a classical repose with contemporary naval dress.

Reynolds 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. In 1825 the sitter's widow, Viscountess Bridport, presented this portrait to Greenwich Hospital, of which Bridport had also been Treasurer.