This half-length portrait shows José de Mazarredo dressed in navy uniform as prescribed by the 1793 Ordinances of the Navy, written by Mazarredo himself, with a navy blue dress coat edged in red and gold, a red vest, and a white handkerchief around his neck. He is also wearing Lieutenant General badges with a sash and sword and the cross of the Order of Santiago on his jacket. José Mazarredo was one of the most outstanding seamen in Spanish history. As well as participating in a wealth of missions and expeditions, he led the School of Midshipmen, where he was involved in the training programs. He was involved in the Assembly of Bayonne commissioned to write a constitution in accordance with the wishes of the French emperor. He was Secretary of State and Secretary of the Naval Office and Head of the Navy of the French government in Spain. He wrote noteworthy treatises on tactics, navigation, ordinances, and signaling, such as Rudiments of Naval Tactics (1776), Collection of Tables for the Most Necessary Uses in Navigation (1779) and Lessons of Navigation for the Use of Midshipmen (1798). This painting was done in 1800 by the French painter Jean-François-Marie Bellier (1745–1836), landscape painter and portraitist at the court of Queen Marie Antoinette of France.