The 10th Earl of Pembroke was educated at Eton and was styled Lord Herbert until he succeeded to his earldoms in 1750. From 1751-54 he was on the Grand Tour, when his portrait was painted by Pompeo Batoni (Collection of the Earl of Pembroke, Wilton House, Wiltshire). He met Wilson in Rome in 1754 and on his return commissioned P76-P80, five views of Wilton House, now in the collection at Wilton but intended for his newly-built London house in Whitehall Gardens, designed by Sir William Chambers. He also owned other works by Wilson (see below). In 1755 he built an indoor riding school at Wilton House and commissioned 55 paintings of military riding exercises which now hang in the Large Smoking Room at Wilton. In 1759 Pembroke was made a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, with the Colonelcy of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons and proceeded to Germany with his regiment.
See further Clark and Bowron 1985, p. 258, cat. 175
