This beautifully designed and illustrated publication is the first comprehensive biography of the portrait painter Johan Zoffany (1733-1810), one of the leading figures of 18th-century British art. The German-born artist shot to fame with his charming conversation pieces and portraits of London celebrities, and soon became the painter of choice of King George III. This timely and entertaining biography--reproducing many images that have never been previously published--looks beneath the often deceptively smooth surfaces of Zoffany's art to discover the intelligence, curiosity and subversive humour that made his work and life so distinctive.