John Opie was born in Cornwall, the son of a master carpenter. At an early age he was something of an academic prodigy, with a talent for painting. Opie was discovered and promoted by the opportunist Dr Wolcott, ex-physician to the Governor of Jamaica, amateur artist and London socialite. Under Wolcott’s management, Opie became a sought after portrait painter, in spite of a superficially uncultured Cornish manner, which gave him a sort of novelty value. In 1782 he showed his first work at the Royal Academy. A mere five years later he was a full RA on the strength of his 'Assassination of David Rizzio', a virtuoso conception artistically, but technically poor. In 1806, already seriously ill with bone marrow disease that was to kill him one year later, he was elected to the Professorship of Painting at the Academy.