David Garrick in 'The Provok'd Wife'

The part of Sir John Brute in Vanbrugh's comedy The Provok'd Wife was played by Garrick throughout his career. The performance shown here took place at Drury Lane on 18 April 1763. Zoffany has painted the scene in Garrick's rewritten version, in which Sir John Brute, in a drunken frolic with Lord Rake and Colonel Bully, has robbed a journeyman tailor of a suit of clothes intended for his own wife, and is about to be arrested by the Watch. The picture was painted for Garrick and hung in his dining parlour at Hampton.