,,reynolds ,,uniform ,,with ,,this ,,volume ,,romney ,containing sixteen examples of the master's work ,,velasquez ,containing sixteen examples of the master's work ,a4 ,,and ,c4 ,,black1 #d ,,soho ,,square1 ,,london1 ,w4 ,illustration3 ,,miss ,,nelly ,o',,brien #agfc4 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london ,,reynolds ,,by ,,randall ,,davies ,,containing ,,sixteen ,,examples ,,in ,,colour ,,of ,,the ,,master',s ,,work ,,london ,,adam ,,and ,,charles ,,black #aiac ,,printed ,,at ,,the ,,ballantyne ,,press ,,london ,,preface ,the chief authorities on the life and work of ,reynolds are ,james ,northcote1 ,r4,a41 his most successful pupil2 ,henry ,william ,beechey1 and ,c4 ,r4 ,leslie1 ,r4,a41 each of whom produced a two-volume work on the subject4 ,the first of these appeared in #ahai1 seventeen years after ,sir ,joshua's death2 the next in #ahce1 and the last1 edited by ,tom ,taylor1 in #ahfe4 ,besides these capital works there are memoirs by ,joseph ,farington1 ,r4,a41 by ,edmund ,malone1 by ,william ,cotton1 by ,william ,mason1 and by ,allan ,cunningham in his 8,lives of the ,british ,painters10 all of which appeared in the earlier half of the last century4 ,from such an abundance of material1 to say nothing of modern publications1 it is hardly possible to collect everything that is of value within the limits of a short memoir4 ,only such points as are in themselves essential1 or seem significant in relation to the enormous influence of ,reynolds on his contemporaries1 has it been attempted to dwell upon4 ,r4 ,d4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations #a4 ,miss ,nelly ,o',brien 7#agfc7 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london ,frontispiece ,facing p4 #b4 ,captain ,orme 7#agfa7 ,national ,gallery1 ,london #b #c4 ,the ,strawberry ,girl 7#aggc7 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london #d #d4 ,lady ,cockburn and ,her ,children 7#aggc7 ,national ,gallery1 ,london #f #e4 ,miss ,bowles 7#agge7 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london #h #f4 ,portrait of ,two ,gentlemen 7#aggh7 ,national ,gallery1 ,london #ab #g4 ,mrs4 ,carnac 7#aggh7 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london #af #h4 ,lady and ,child 7#aghj 87 ,national ,gallery1 ,london #bj #i4 ,admiral ,keppel 7#aghj7 8 8 8 #bb #aj4 ,mrs4 ,hoare and ,child 7#aghc 87 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london #bd #aa4 ,mrs4 ,robinson 78,perdita07 7#aghd 87 8 8 8 #bh #ab4 ,lord ,heathfield 7#aghg7 ,national ,gallery1 ,london #cf #ac4 ,the ,age of ,innocence 7#aghh7 8 8 8 #dd #ad4 ,mrs4 ,braddyl 7#aghh or #aghi7 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london #df #ae4 ,mrs4 ,siddons as the ,tragic ,muse 7#aghi7 ,dulwich ,gallery #dh #af4 ,mrs4 ,nesbit with a ,dove ,wallace ,collection1 ,london #eb ,,sir ,,joshua ,,reynolds ,when ,benjamin ,west1 a native of ,pennsylvania1 was elected ,president of the ,royal ,academy1 on the death of ,reynolds in #agib1 he found the arts in a state of prosperity which could hardly have been predicted when ,reynolds began painting in ,london just half a century earlier4 ,to attribute this happy improvement to his illustrious predecessor alone would have been more than was fair to ,west himself1 and in giving to ,sir ,joshua the fullest credit for his share in it1 the claims of one or two great painters and of more lesser lights than can readily be counted must not be overlooked4 ,but1 when all have been fairly considered1 it is to ,reynolds that the highest tribute is due for having helped1 by precept as well as by practice1 to raise the arts from the low estate in which he found them at the outset of his career to the proud position in which they stood at the close of the eighteenth century4 8,he was the first ,englishman10 said ,edmund ,burke1 8who added the praise of the elegant arts to the other glories of his country40 ,looking back1 as we now may1 over the whole extent of ,british painting in the eighteenth century1 we may say still more than this1 namely that while others practised the profession of painting ,reynolds dignified it4 ,painting in ,england had never been an art1 it was little more than a business2 and there was small hope of it ever becoming anything better when a really considerable painter like ,kneller was content simply to fill his pockets from the profits of an emporium for fashionable portraits without caring in the least as to their quality so long as he got his price4 ,kneller1 however1 was a ,german4 ,what was wanted for ,english ,art was an ,englishman4 ,sir ,james ,thornhill1 and his forceful son-in-law1 ,william ,hogarth1 were both bold and successful in attempting what they could1 each in his particular way1 to root the plant in the soil4 ,but neither had the necessary combination of those two qualities1 greatness and dignity1 which was essential for effecting so great a task as bringing the plant to maturity4 ,thornhill had the dignity without the greatness1 ,hogarth something of the greatness without the ,illustration3 ,,captain ,,orme #agfa4 ,national ,gallery1 ,london dignity2 and it was left to ,reynolds1 in whom these two qualities1 abundantly evident1 were blended in such nice proportions1 to foster1 if not to found1 one of the most vigorous schools of painting that the world has ever seen4 ,dignity1 it may be observed1 is a dangerous quality when not accompanied1 or alloyed1 by others more human4 ,if not nicely balanced it is only too liable to swerve to pomposity on the one hand1 or empty affability or condescension on the other4 ,that ,reynolds never swayed perceptibly in either direction it would hardly be true to assert4 ,his pedantic observations on his great contemporaries1 ,hogarth1 ,gainsborough and ,wilson1 and the patronising tone of some of his conversations with the younger men1 would be less forgivable were it not that one realises how great a man he was4 ,there are many passages in his ,discourses that1 taken by themselves1 are apt to exasperate2 but when we consider the work he actually accomplished1 the example he afforded1 and the knowledge of his art which by his application he added to his natural gifts1 we cannot fail to see how paramount his influence has been on the whole course of ,english ,art in his own and succeeding times4 ,that he was an ,englishman is a fact which nowadays it may seem unnecessary to emphasise4 ,but how easy it is to forget that a very considerable number of the painters whose works are included in those of 8the ,british ,school0 were not born in ,england4 ,that the very greatest of all were natives--namely1 ,reynolds1 ,gainsborough1 ,hogarth1 ,romney1 ,lawrence1 ,constable and ,turner--is certainly gratifying to the national pride2 and it may be added that with the exception of ,romney all of these were born south of the ,trent4 ,scotland has given us ,raeburn1 and ,wales ,richard ,wilson4 ,but with the exception of the miniaturists1 ,isaac and ,peter ,oliver1 ,nicholas ,hilyard and ,samuel ,cooper1 there was no ,english artist of note before the eighteenth century2 the influence of ,holbein1 ,vandyke1 ,lely1 ,kneller1 and the rest who worked in ,england1 was never strong enough to awaken a response in the country of their adoption4 ,in later and modern times the ,british ,school has been enriched from various quarters3 by ,west1 ,copley1 ,whistler1 ,abbey1 and ,sargent from across the ,atlantic2 by ,alma ,tadema from ,holland and ,hubert von ,herkomer from ,germany1 to mention only a few of the more notable names4 ,but the ,illustration3 ,,the ,,strawberry ,,girl #aggc4 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london number of ,british artists is now so great1 to say nothing of their strength1 that these accessions count for little in the great stream whose fountainhead1 to return to the point from which we start1 was ,joshua ,reynolds4 ,it was at ,plympton in ,devonshire that ,reynolds was born1 on ,july #af1 #agbc4 ,his father1 the ,rev4 ,samuel ,reynolds1 was headmaster of a school in the parish4 ,his mother's maiden name was ,theophila ,potter4 ,he was the tenth of eleven children--no uncommon number for a country parson in ,england4 ,he is said to have been called ,joshua in expectation of possible benevolence from an uncle of that name who lived in the neighbourhood4 ,perhaps this was an afterthought1 for his name is entered in the register of baptisms at ,plympton as ,joseph4 ,like many1 if not most1 of his fellow-geniuses he developed a taste for the arts at a very early age4 ,his father1 with that lack of foresight which may almost be called a characteristic of parents1 is known to have endorsed one of his sons earliest efforts1 executed during school-hours1 8,done by ,joshua out of pure idleness40 8,his first essays10 ,malone tells us1 8were copying some slight drawings made by two of his sisters1 who had a turn for art2 he afterwards eagerly copied such prints as he met with among his father's books1 particularly those which were given in the translation of ,plutarch's lives published by ,dryden4 ,but his principal fund of imitation was ,jacob ,catts's ,book of ,emblems1 which his great-grandmother by the father's side1 a ,dutchwoman1 had brought with her from ,holland40 ,trivial as these anecdotes of early efforts may in very many cases be held1 it is here of the very greatest interest to compare the beginnings of ,reynolds's genius with those of his only formidable rival1 ,gainsborough4 ,for in both we so plainly see 8the child the father of the man0 that1 were it not that we have both of the accounts on sufficiently trustworthy authority1 we might well suppose them to have been supplied merely to feed the popular imagination of what ought to have been4 8,a beautiful wood of four miles in extent10 ,allan ,cunningham tells us1 8was ,gainsborough's first inspiration when but a child1 in ,suffolk4 ,scenes are pointed out where he used to sit and fill his copy-books with pencillings of flowers1 and trees1 and whatever pleased his fancy2 and it is said that these early attempts of the child bore a distinct ,illustration3 ,,lady ,,cockburn ,,and ,,her ,,children #aggc4 ,national ,gallery1 ,london resemblance to the mature works of the man4 ,at ten years old he had made some progress in sketching1 and at twelve he was a confirmed painter40 ,reynolds's father was not long1 however1 in awaking to ,joshua's talents1 for the boy was not more than about eight years old when1 after perusing a book entitled 8,the ,jesuit's ,perspective10 he made a drawing of ,plympton ,school which effected a complete revolution in the state of the parental mind4 8,this is what the author of the #8,perspective' asserts in his preface10 cried the worthy father1 8that by observing the rules laid down in this book a man may do wonders--for this is wonderful60 ,after this portentous revelation ,joshua was allowed to devote himself more seriously to his favourite pursuit1 and his classical studies were sacrificed to the more congenial occupation of drawing likenesses of his relations and friends1 and to the perusal of ,richardson's treatise on painting1 which gave him his first acquaintance with the beauties of the great ,italian ,masters4 ,to the author of this work1 ,jonathan ,richardson the elder1 some slight tribute is due in speaking of the formation and development of the ,english ,school of ,painting1 so far at all events as it was influenced by the study of the ,italian ,masters4 ,horace ,walpole considered him one of the best painters of a head that had appeared in this country4 8,there is strength1 roundness1 and boldness in his colouring10 he says1 8but his men want dignity and his women grace4 ,the good sense of the nation is characterised in his portraits4 ,you see he lived in an age when neither enthusiasm nor servility were predominant40 ,the treatise of ,richardson in which ,reynolds formed his first acquaintance with the ,italian ,masters was probably the 8,essay on the whole ,art of ,criticism as it relates to ,painting10 which was published in #agai1 bound up in one volume with 8,an ,argument in behalf of the ,science of a ,connoisseur40 ,this was followed1 in #agbb1 by an account of some of the statues1 bas-reliefs1 drawings1 and pictures in ,italy1 c41 with remarks by ,mr4 ,richardson1 ,senior and ,junior4 ,the son made the journey1 and from his notes they both compiled this valuable work4 ,the father formed a large collection of the drawings of ,old ,masters1 many of which were acquired and treasured by ,reynolds4 ,when he was eighteen years old1 ,reynolds was sent to ,london to study painting under ,thomas ,hudson1 the most successful portrait painter at that ,illustration3 ,,miss ,,bowles #agge ,wallace ,collection1 ,london time1 with whom he remained for two years4 ,it is said that the relations between master and pupil were not very happy1 and that the reason for ,reynolds's abrupt return to ,devonshire was the success of one of his portraits which had been hung by accident among ,hudson's productions4 ,however this may be1 it appears that ,reynolds had not wasted his time in ,london1 and it was during the next two or three years1 when he had returned to his native country and settled at ,plymouth1 that he painted the portrait of himself 7with his palette in his left hand1 shading his eyes with his right71 besides being commissioned to paint ,miss ,chudleigh1 afterwards the notorious ,duchess of ,kingston1 and the ,commissioner of ,plymouth ,dock4 ,northcote speaks of ,reynolds's pictures at this early period as being 8carelessly drawn and frequently in commonplace attitudes1 like those of his old master ,hudson1 with one hand hid in the waistcoat1 and the hat under the arm--a very favourite attitude with portrait painters at that time1 because particularly convenient to the artist1 as by it he got rid of the tremendous difficulty of painting the hand40 ,apropos of which ,northcote proceeds to relate an anecdote which he says he had heard so often and on such authority that he apprehended it to be a truth3 8,one gentleman whose portrait ,reynolds had painted desired to have his hat on his head in the picture1 which was quickly finished1 in a commonplace attitude1 done without much study1 and sent home2 where1 on inspection1 it was soon discovered that although this gentleman in his portrait had one hat upon his head1 yet there was another under his arm40 ,a fine specimen of his accomplishments at this early period is a small 8conversation piece0--that is to say1 an elaborate family group1 painted in the year #agdf1 which is now in the possession of ,lord ,st4 ,germans1 at ,port ,eliot1 near ,plymouth4 ,i have not seen the original1 but ,mr4 ,george ,harland ,peck has a small version of it in water-colour1 which he was kind enough to allow me to reproduce in the ,portfolio ,monograph ,no4 #dh 78,english ,society of the ,eighteenth ,century in ,contemporary ,art074 ,in this composition there are no less than eleven figures1 grouped in various attitudes about the steps at a corner of the family mansion4 ,the central figure1 standing1 is ,edward1 afterwards created ,lord ,eliot4 ,on his left are seated his father and mother1 ,richard and ,harriot ,eliot4 ,on his right are standing two of his sisters1 and ,captain ,hamilton 7ancestor of the ,duke of ,abercorn7 with a child on his shoulders4 ,a boy on his right1 two children seated in the foreground1 and a ,mrs4 ,goldsworthy on the extreme right of the picture complete the composition4 ,as the work of a country youth of twenty-three this is certainly a very remarkable performance4 ,hogarth and some of his minor contemporaries were at this date producing 8conversation pieces0 of more or less merit1 but we must look to ,holland or ,france for anything on this scale4 ,only once again did ,reynolds attempt anything approaching so comprehensive a survey of family portraiture on a single canvas1 namely the ,marlborough group at ,blenheim1 containing eight figures besides several dogs1 of which a very spirited little sketch in oils is now in the ,national ,gallery4 ,but ,reynolds's greatest good fortune at ,plymouth1 as it afterwards proved1 was his introduction to ,lord ,mount ,edgcumbe1 who became his most valuable patron when he returned to ,london1 and to ,captain ,keppel1 whose kindness enabled him to visit ,italy instead of settling down as a provincial portrait painter1 with nothing better by way of example than the hopeless decadence that followed as a natural consequence on the slovenly indifference of ,kneller4 ,in #agdi ,keppel was appointed ,commodore of the ,mediterranean station1 and invited ,reynolds to accompany him4 ,he willingly accepted the invitation1 and remained in ,italy for over three years4 ,how he profited by this opportunity for studying the works of the greatest masters may be gathered from numerous passages in his memoranda and in the 8,discourses20 and to discover the secret of his success1 both in practice and in precept1 we have only to read in his own words the story of the ceaseless activity of a mind unalterably bent on utilising every opportunity for improving his art4 ,let us begin with the passage in which he confesses to have found himself disappointed with the works of ,raphael4 8,i did not for a moment conceive or suppose10 he writes1 8that the name of ,raphael and those admirable paintings in particular owed their reputation to the ignorance and prejudice of mankind2 on the contrary1 my not relishing them as ,i was conscious ,i ought to have done was one of the most humiliating circumstances that ever happened to me3 ,i found myself in the midst of works executed upon principles with which ,i was unacquainted2 ,i felt my ignorance and stood abashed4 8,all the indigested notions of painting which ,i had brought with me from ,england1 where art was in ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,two ,,gentlemen #aggh4 ,national ,gallery1 ,london the lowest state it had ever been in 7it could not1 indeed1 be lower71 were to be totally done away and eradicated from my mind4 ,it was necessary1 as it is expressed on a very solemn occasion1 that ,i should become as a little child40 ,ignorance1 then1 was the first obstacle to be overcome4 ,it was ignorance1 as ,beechey so truly points out in the introduction to his ,memoir of ,reynolds1 ignorance of the dignity and creative powers of art1 that made the works of his predecessors inferior to those of modern times2 and it was the light derived from intellectual sources1 operating upon a powerful and discriminating mind1 that enabled him to attain a higher degree of excellence4 8,we may fairly assume10 ,beechey continues1 8that the productions of this admirable painter gave the first great stimulus to ,british art and showed to ,british artists the extent of their deficiencies and the means by which they might be remedied 444 but we may venture to affirm that if he had never enjoyed the opportunities of comparing the results of his early education with the works of ,italian genius1 he would never have attained that high superiority which is now so universally allowed to him 444 it was the study of those principles on which ,raphael and ,michel ,angelo had formed their comprehensive and elevated views of nature which first enabled ,reynolds to perceive his own deficiencies1 to appreciate the value of intellectual art1 and to employ it in dignifying that of his country40 ,this was written1 be it observed1 in #ahce1 at a time when the art of portraiture was fast descending from the heights to which ,reynolds1 ,gainsborough and ,romney had raised it to depths almost as low as those in which it had sunk a century earlier4 ,hoppner and ,lawrence1 the last of the great men1 had left no one to carry on the tradition1 and had contributed in some measure to its extinction by faults of manner which were fatally easy to imitate4 ,shallow and slipshod imitation soon became the fashionable cloak to cover the bare bones of the old skeleton--ignorance--and the early ,victorian age could produce nothing in the way of portraiture which is now looked at without contempt4 ,as to the methods by which this ignorance was to be overcome1 it is to be observed that when lecturing at the ,academy in his later days ,sir ,joshua was constantly urging upon the students the necessity for generalisation4 8,the man of true genius10 he says1 8instead of spending all his hours1 as many artists do while they are at ,rome1 in measuring statues and copying pictures1 soon begins to think for himself1 and endeavours to do something like what he sees4 ,i consider general copying a delusive kind of industry40 ,and again1 8,instead of copying the touches of those great masters1 copy only their conceptions2 instead of treading in their footsteps1 endeavour only to keep the same road2 labour to invent on their general principles and way of thinking2 possess yourself with their spirit2 consider with yourself how a ,michel ,angelo or a ,raphael would have treated this subject1 and work yourself into a belief that your picture is to be seen and criticised by them when completed2 even an attempt of this kind will rouse your powers40 ,that this determination to look at his art in the broadest possible spirit was the dominant factor in his success is continually evident at every point in his career4 ,the breadth and sincerity of this view are so faithfully reflected in every single work he achieved that it seems rather to character than to genius that he owes his high place among painters4 ,that it was not so may be readily admitted when we remember other painters--for instance1 ,benjamin ,west and ,george ,morland--who were gifted with one or other of those two qualities only2 but the combination of the two carried ,reynolds as high as ,gainsborough1 and far higher than any one else4 8,one who has a genius10 he writes 7as early as #agei71 8will comprehend in his idea the whole of his work at once2 whilst he who is deficient in genius amuses himself in trifling parts of small consideration1 attends with scrupulous exactness to the minuter matters only1 which he finishes to a nicety1 whilst the whole together has a very ill effect40 ,this striving after generalisation1 seeing things whole1 is noticed by ,edmund ,burke as almost the chief characteristic of ,reynolds's genius4 ,malone requested ,burke to 8throw his thoughts on paper relative to ,sir ,joshua10 at the time when he was preparing his ,life1 and ,burke complied with the request in the following short summary1 which is printed in ,leslie and ,taylor's ,life of ,sir ,joshua4 8,he was a great generaliser1 and was fond of reducing everything to one system2 more1 perhaps1 than the variety of principles which operate in the human mind1 and in every human work1 will properly endure4 ,but this disposition to abstractions1 generalisations and classifications is the great glory ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,carnac #aggh4 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london of the human mind2 that1 indeed1 which most distinguishes man from other animals1 and is the source of everything that can be called science4 8,i believe his early acquaintance with ,mr4 ,mudge1 of ,exeter the ,rev4 ,zachariah ,mudge1 a dissenting minister1 a very learned and thinking man1 much inclined to philosophise in the spirit of the ,platonists1 disposed him to this habit4 ,he certainly by that means liberalised in a high degree the theory of his own art2 and if he had been more methodically instituted in the early part of his life1 and had possessed more leisure for study and reflection1 he would in my opinion have pursued this method with great success4 8,he had a strong turn for humour1 and well saw the weak sides of things4 ,he enjoyed every circumstance of his good fortune and had no affectation on that subject4 ,and ,i do not know a fault or weakness of his that he did not convert into something that bordered on a virtue1 instead of pushing it to the confines of a vice4 ,e4 ,b40 8,genius10 ,johnson wrote1 8is chiefly exerted in historical pictures1 and the art of the painter of portraits is often lost in the obscurity of the subject4 ,but it is in painting as in life3 what is greatest is not always best4 ,i should grieve to see ,reynolds transfer to heroes and to goddesses1 to empty splendour and to airy fiction1 that art which is now employed in diffusing friendship1 in renewing tenderness1 in quickening the affections of the absent and continuing the presence of the dead4 ,every man is always present to himself1 and has therefore little need of his own resemblance2 nor can he desire it but for the sake of those whom he loves and by whom he hopes to be remembered4 ,this use of the art is a natural and reasonable consequence of affection1 and though1 like all other human actions1 it is often complicated with pride1 yet even such pride is more laudable than that by which palaces are covered with pictures that1 however excellent1 neither imply the owners virtue nor excite it40 ,this was written to combat the assertion that ,sir ,joshua1 in confining himself to portraiture1 was hardly practising what he was always preaching4 ,but preaching was very much wanted at this stage of the development of art in ,england1 though not exactly the preaching of the ,established ,church4 ,the ,dean of ,gloucester had said on the occasion of a meeting of the ,society of ,arts1 ,manufactures and ,commerce1 that he thought a pinmaker was a more useful and valuable member of society than ,raphael4 ,reynolds was of the contrary opinion1 which he committed to paper3 8,this is an observation of a very narrow mind2 a mind that is confined to the mere object of commerce2 that sees with a microscopic eye but a part of the great machine of the economy of life1 and thinks that small part which he sees to be the whole4 8,commerce is the means1 not the end1 of happiness or pleasure4 ,the end is a rational enjoyment of life by means of arts and sciences4 ,it is therefore the highest degree of folly to set the means in a higher rank of esteem than the accomplished end4 ,it is as much as to say that the brickmaker is a more useful member of society than the architect who employs him4 ,the usefulness of the brickmaker is acknowledged1 but the rank of him and of the architect are very different4 8,no man deserves better of mankind than he who has the art of opening sources of intellectual pleasure and instruction by means of the senses40 99 99 99 99 99 ,on his return from his three years' tour in #ageb ,reynolds lost no time in setting up his easel as a professional painter in ,london4 ,the effects of his studies in ,italy were too obvious to escape notice1 and as the arts at that time were scarcely1 if at all1 deserving of kindlier mention than ,reynolds has given them in the passage above quoted1 it is hardly surprising that he was subject to some adverse criticism4 ,hudson1 his former master1 after looking at a ,boy in a ,turban--a portrait of his pupil ,marchi1 now one of the treasured possessions of the ,royal ,academy--which had just been painted1 told him that he didn't paint as well as when he left ,england4 ,a pupil of ,kneller objected that he didn't paint in the least like ,sir ,godfrey4 ,but his success was now not far off1 and with the full-length portrait of ,keppel1 which was painted in #agec1 he sprang into fame4 8,with this picture10 says ,farington1 in his ,memoir of ,reynolds published in #ahai1 8he took great pains2 for it was observed at the time that after several sittings he defaced his work and began again4 ,but his labour was not lost2 that excellent production was so much admired that it completely established the reputation of the artist4 ,its dignity and spirit1 its beauty of colour and fine general effect occasioned equal surprise and pleasure4 ,the public1 hitherto accustomed to see only the formal1 tame representations which reduced all persons to the same standard of unmeaning insipidity1 were captivated with this ,illustration3 ,,lady ,,and ,,child #aghj8 ,national ,gallery1 ,london display of animated character1 and the report of its attraction was soon widely circulated40 ,malone is not less enthusiastic4 8,the whole interval between the time of ,charles ,i and the conclusion of the reign of ,george ,,ii10 he observes1 8though distinguished by the performances of ,lely1 ,riley1 and ,kneller1 seemed to be annihilated1 and the only question was whether the new painter or ,vandyck were the more excellent4 ,for several years before the period we are now speaking of the painters of portraits contented themselves with exhibiting as correct a resemblance as they could1 but seemed not to have thought1 or had not the power1 of enlivening the canvas by giving a kind of historic air to their pictures4 ,mr4 ,reynolds 444 instead of confining himself to mere likeness 7in which1 however1 he was eminently happy7 dived1 as it were1 into the minds and habits and manners of those who sat to him2 and accordingly the majority of his portraits are so appropriate and characteristic that the many illustrious persons whom he has delineated will be almost as well known to posterity as if they had seen and conversed with them40 99 99 99 99 99 ,a slight gap in the story of ,reynolds's earlier days is usefully filled by an essay entitled1 8,observations on ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds's ,method of ,colouring10 and published by ,william ,cotton in #ahei4 ,it had been written many years before by ,william ,mason1 the author of 8,odes on ,memory0 and other poetical works4 ,mason was1 besides1 an amateur painter1 and was always admitted to ,sir ,joshua's painting room unless he had a sitter for a portrait4 ,when not so occupied1 he tells us1 ,reynolds was always retouching an old master1 or had some beggar or poor child sitting to him1 because he always chose to have nature before his eyes4 ,mason mentions the effect of the portrait of ,keppel in attracting others to ,reynolds1 among the first being the young ,lords ,huntingdon and ,stormont1 who had just returned from the grand tour4 ,as though determined to follow up the success of his ,captain ,keppel with as bold an effort in another direction1 he challenged comparison with ,vandyck by painting the two young lords at full length on the same canvas4 8,it was upon seeing this picture10 ,mason continues1 8that ,lord ,holderness was induced to sit for his portrait 7which he was afterwards pleased to make me a present of71 on which occasion he employed me to go to the painter and fix with him his ,lordship's time of ,illustration3 ,,admiral ,,keppel #aghj4 ,national ,gallery1 ,london sitting4 ,here our acquaintance commenced2 and as he permitted me to attend every sitting1 ,i shall here set down the observations ,i made upon his manner of painting at this early time1 which to the best of my remembrance was in the year #aged4 8,on his light-coloured canvas he had already laid a ground of white1 where he meant to place the head1 and which was still wet4 ,he had nothing upon his palette but flake-white1 lake1 and black2 and without making any previous sketch or outline1 he began with much celerity to scumble these pigments together1 till he had produced1 in less than an hour1 a likeness sufficiently intelligible yet withal1 as might be expected1 cold and pallid to the last degree4 ,at the second sitting he added1 ,i believe1 to the three other colours a little ,naples yellow2 but ,i do not remember that he used any vermilion1 neither then nor at the third trial 444 lake alone might produce the carnation required4 ,however this be1 the portrait turned out a striking likeness1 and the attitude1 so far as a three-quarters canvas would admit1 perfectly natural and peculiar to his person1 which at all times bespoke a fashioned gentleman4 ,his drapery was crimson velvet1 copied from a coat he then wore1 and apparently not only painted but glazed with lake1 which has stood at this hour perfectly well2 though the face1 which as well as the whole picture was highly varnished before he sent it home1 very soon faded2 and soon after the forehead particularly cracked1 almost to peeling off1 which it would have done long since had not his pupil ,doughty repaired it40 99 99 99 99 99 ,among ,sir ,joshua's memoranda is the following very candid account of his efforts to improve himself in his art1 which is printed in ,beechey's ,memoir3 8,not having had the advantage of an early academical education1 ,i never had that facility of drawing the naked figure which an artist ought to have4 ,it appeared to me too late1 when ,i went to ,italy and began to feel my own deficiencies1 to endeavour to acquire that readiness of invention which ,i observed others to possess4 ,i consoled myself1 however1 by remarking that these ready inventors are extremely apt to acquiesce in imperfections1 and that if ,i had not their facility ,i should for this very reason be more likely to avoid the defect which too often accompanies it--a trite and commonplace mode of invention4 8,how difficult it is for the artist who possesses this facility to guard against carelessness and commonplace invention is well known1 and in a kindred art ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,hoare ,,and ,,child #aghc8 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london ,metastasio is an eminent instance1 who always complained of the great difficulty he found in attaining correctness in consequence of his having been in his youth an improvisatore4 ,having this defect constantly in my mind ,i never was contented with commonplace attitudes or inventions of any kind4 ,i considered myself as playing a great game1 and instead of beginning to save money ,i laid it out faster than ,i got it in purchasing the best examples of art that could be procured2 for ,i even borrowed money for this purpose4 ,the possession of pictures by ,titian1 ,vandyck1 ,rembrandt1 c41 ,i considered as the best kind of wealth4 8,by carefully studying the works of great masters this advantage is obtained--we find that certain niceties of expression are capable of being executed which otherwise we might suppose beyond the reach of art4 ,this gives us confidence in ourselves2 and we are thus invited to endeavour at not only the same happiness of execution1 but also at other congenial excellencies4 ,study1 indeed1 consists in learning to see nature1 and may be called the art of using other men's minds4 ,by this kind of contemplation and exercise we are taught to think in their way1 and sometimes to attain their excellence4 ,thus1 for instance1 if ,i had never seen any of the works of ,correggio ,i should never1 perhaps1 have remarked in nature the expression that ,i find in one of his pictures2 or if ,i had remarked it ,i might have thought it too difficult or perhaps impossible to be executed4 8,my success and continued improvement in my art1 if ,i may be allowed that expression1 may be ascribed in a good measure to a principle which ,i will boldly recommend to imitation3 ,i mean the principle of honesty2 which in this1 as in all other instances1 is1 according to the vulgar proverb1 certainly the best policy4--,i always endeavoured to do my best4 ,great or vulgar1 good subjects or bad1 all had nature1 by the exact representation of which1 or even by the endeavour to give such a representation1 the painter cannot but improve in his art4 8,my principal labour was employed on the whole together1 and ,i was never weary of changing and trying different modes and different effects4 ,i had always some scheme in my mind1 and a perpetual desire to advance4 ,by constantly endeavouring to do my best ,i acquired a power of doing that with spontaneous facility which was at first the whole effort of my mind2 and my reward was threefold3 the satisfaction resulting from acting on this just principle1 improvement in my art1 and the pleasure derived from a constant pursuit after excellence4 8,i was always willing to believe that my uncertainty of proceeding in my works--that is1 my never being sure of my hand1 and my frequent alterations--arose from a refined taste which could not acquiesce in anything short of a high degree of excellence4 ,i had not an opportunity of being early initiated in the principles of colouring2 no man1 indeed1 could teach me4 ,if ,i have never been settled with respect to colouring1 let it at the same time be remembered that my unsteadiness in this respect proceeded from an inordinate desire to possess every kind of excellence that ,i saw in the works of others1 without considering that there is in colouring1 as in style1 excellencies which are incompatible with each other2 however1 this pursuit1 or1 indeed1 any similar pursuit1 prevents the artist from being tired of his art4 8,we all know how often those masters who sought after colouring changed their manner1 while others1 merely from not seeing various modes1 acquiesced all their lives in that with which they set out4 ,on the contrary1 ,i tried every effect of colour2 and leaving out every colour in its turn1 showed every colour that ,i could do without it4 ,as ,i alternately left out every colour1 ,i tried every new colour1 and often1 it is well known1 failed4 ,the former practice1 ,i am aware1 may be compared by those whose chief object is ridicule to that of the poet mentioned in the ,spectator who1 in a poem of twenty-four books1 contrived in each book to leave out a letter4 ,but ,i was influenced by no such idle or foolish affectation4 ,my fickleness in the mode of colour arose from an eager desire to attain the highest excellence4 ,this is the only merit ,i assume to myself from my conduct in that respect40 99 99 99 99 99 ,from the entries in his pocket-book for #agee it appears that no fewer than #abj people sat to ,reynolds in that year1 though he had only been established in ,london since the end of #ageb4 ,the pocket-book for #agef is lost4 ,in #ageh1 his busiest year of all1 the number rose to #aej4 ,two large military portraits exhibited in #agfa confirmed the reputation of the new painter1 namely those of ,captain ,orme and ,lord ,ligonier4 ,with these the public is more familiar than that of ,keppel1 as both are in the ,national ,gallery1 and they serve as well as any others to illustrate the extraordinary advance which their production marked in the history ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,robinson 78,,perdita07 #aghd8 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london of ,english portraiture1 and indeed of painting in general4 ,the passages previously quoted from ,farington and ,malone can hardly be regarded as over-florid when we try to imagine the effect of the sudden appearance of a portrait like that of ,captain ,orme in a country which was absolutely barren of fine painting4 ,it is true that ,hogarth had lately wrought several wonderfully vigorous achievements in unconventional portraiture1 one or two of which--notably the ,bishop of ,winchester--are to be seen in an adjoining room at the ,national ,gallery4 ,but ,hogarth was never a portrait painter1 and admirable as his peculiar qualities were1 to compare him with ,reynolds is very much like comparing a blacksmith with a sculptor4 ,hogarth's brush was like a sledge-hammer2 every stroke went home1 and his extraordinarily vivid presentments of ,lord ,boyne1 ,simon ,lord ,lovat1 ,captain ,coram1 and others seem rather to have been forged than painted--,i do not1 of course1 mean counterfeited6 ,of other portraiture there was really none1 beyond the skill of facial resemblance with which ,walpole credits ,jonathan ,richardson1 and the lackadaisical reminiscences of what had been worst in ,kneller4 ,placed among several of the best works of ,reynolds's maturer period1 as it is to-day1 the ,captain ,orme can hardly fail to arrest the attention alike of student or casual visitor4 ,whatever technical deficiencies the learned may discover in it--deficiencies which1 as we have seen1 he was never too ignorant to confess or too indolent to let be--the whole picture is stamped with the character of greatness4 ,to us there is no strangeness1 no surprise1 in the originality of the composition1 as there was to its first beholders4 ,to us the easy pose of the figure standing beside the horse is only a source of enjoyment1 and we feel as it were that there could have been no other possible way of painting the portrait with any success2 that that was the one attitude in which ,captain ,orme appeared to any advantage4 ,we recognise in it the work of a great master without any question as to its place in the history of painting4 ,but consider what the effect of it must have been on the painters and their patrons at the time of its appearance4 ,northcote describes the picture as 8an effort in composition so new to his barren competitors in art as must have struck them with dismay2 for they dared not venture on such perilous flights of invention40 ,that there is little reason to doubt that ,northcote was right in suggesting dismay and timidity as the prevailing emotions of the other painters may be allowed1 if but for one moment we can blot out from our minds the existence of all ,english painting since that time4 ,we can remember the effect produced upon the ,academicians by the appearance of ,whistler2 but in those recent days opinion had been educated to recognise excellencies in painting1 and it was only the novelty and disregard of existing convention that disturbed them4 ,in #agej the painters had had no such education1 and they felt the double shock of the revelation of superlative excellence combined with startling novelty4 ,not that ,reynolds must be regarded in any sense as a revolutionary4 ,it would be truer to say that he was a revivalist4 ,we may smile at ,whistler's nave 8,why drag in ,velasquez80 but in the 8originality0 of ,reynolds's ,commodore ,keppel and ,captain ,orme we see no more than the fruits of a great mind fertilised by the continuous study of ,vandyck and the ,italian masters4 ,in a gallery of the great portraits of the world1 these achievements of ,reynolds would fall as naturally into line with those of the older masters as the regular productions of the fashionable portrait painters of to-day assimilate with the thousands of pictures amongst which they are hung upon the walls of the ,royal ,academy4 ,one might have said of them as ,shakespeare said of the works of ,time3 8,thy pyramids built up with newer might ,to me are nothing novel1 nothing strange1 ,they are but dressings of a former sight40 ,with all1 or even a few1 of the splendid series of male portraits1 of which these two of ,captain ,orme and ,lord ,ligonier may be taken as the beginning1 it is impossible to deal in so short a memoir4 ,among the most magnificent is that of ,mr4 ,fane and his two guardians1 from the ,earl of ,westmorland's collection1 which is now in the ,metropolitan ,museum in ,new ,york4 ,this must have been painted at the best period of ,reynolds's career1 and shows him at the very top of his achievement in the painting of portraits of men4 ,not far below it1 however1 is the ,lord ,heathfield1 which is here reproduced4 ,this was one of the last portraits he painted1 and yet shows little signs of diminishing vigour in the artist's mind or hand4 ,the ,lord ,heathfield was exhibited in #aghh1 with sixteen other portraits1 in addition to the ,infant ,hercules1 ,muscipula1 and the ,sleeping ,girl4 ,it is now in the ,national ,gallery1 and though it has suffered somewhat from injury and retouching1 it forms a noble close to the chapter opened1 so to speak1 nearly thirty years back by the two other warriors1 ,orme and ,ligonier1 with whom we started4 ,constable1 taking it as an example of what a picture may express besides the actual likeness of the sitter1 aptly describes it as 8almost a history of the defence of ,gibraltar4 ,the distant sea with a glimpse of the opposite coast expresses the locality1 and the cannon1 pointed downward1 the height of the rock on which the hero stands1 with the chain of the massive key of the fortress twice passed round his hand as to secure it in his grasp4 ,he seems to say1 #8,i have you1 and will keep you6'0 99 99 99 99 99 ,with portraits of women ,reynolds was even more successful in his early days4 ,besides the exhibition of pictures in the ,april of the year #agfa1 when the ,captain ,orme and the ,lord ,ligonier opened the public eyes in wonder at the achievements of the new painter1 the marriage and coronation of ,king ,george ,,iii in ,september contributed1 incidentally1 to advance the reputation of ,reynolds in the portraiture of women4 ,of the ten noble and lovely bridesmaids who bore the train of the ,queen1 three of the most beautiful were painted by him in this year1 namely1 the ,ladies ,caroline ,russell1 ,elizabeth ,keppel1 and ,sarah ,lenox4 ,the first portrait1 which is now at ,woburn ,abbey1 is a half-length2 ,lady ,caroline is seated1 in a garden1 with a ,blenheim spaniel in her lap1 presumably the gift of the ,duke of ,marlborough1 whom she married the next year4 ,the other two1 at ,quidenham and ,holland ,house1 are better known from having been mezzotinted4 ,the former is a forecast1 as it were1 of the famous trio at the ,national ,gallery1 ,lady ,elizabeth being represented at full length1 decorating a statue of ,hymen4 ,the composition is enriched by the contrast of a negress1 who holds up the wreaths of flowers to her mistress4 ,lady ,sarah ,lenox shares the honours of her picture with ,lady ,susan ,strangways and ,charles ,james ,fox4 ,she leans from a low window at ,holland ,house to take a dove from ,lady ,susan1 while ,fox--then quite a youth--with a manuscript in his hand1 urges them to come to a rehearsal of some private theatricals4 ,of groups such as these it is much to be regretted that ,reynolds did not paint more4 ,with his comprehensive knowledge of the ,old ,masters he was better qualified than any ,english painter to attempt them1 and his youthful achievement of the ,eliot group1 already mentioned1 showed his natural capabilities before he had been to ,italy at all4 ,it was possibly because ,hogarth1 and his minor imitators1 had made the 8conversation piece0 their own1 and that when he did paint a group1 as the ,ladies ,waldegrave1 or the three ladies decorating a ,term of ,hymen1 he saw no way but 8the grand style10 and sought to immortalise rather than to portray so much beauty collected together4 ,with men he was occasionally more prosaic1 as is witnessed by the two groups of the ,dilettanti ,society1 now in the basement of the ,grafton ,gallery2 though we know that in this instance he took ,paul ,veronese as his guide4 ,let us now turn to the other two--,lady ,elizabeth ,keppel and ,lady ,caroline ,russell--as the prototypes of his more usual portraits of ladies1 the whole and the half-length4 ,a complete full-length picture of a woman offers more difficulties of pose1 proportion1 light1 colour1 or any other particular1 than are overcome by any but a few of the greatest painters4 ,holbein has given us the ,duchess of ,milan1 and no more2 and of all the full-length portraits of ,elizabeth and the ladies of her time1 how many are there that have any but historical or personal interest8 ,in ,england ,vandyck alone succeeded in painting a picture of a complete woman1 and when he was gone the chance of immortality for women--,i mean in pictures--was gone too4 ,i can recall no single whole-length portrait of ,lely or ,kneller that is anything more than a conventional representation of the person4 ,with the ,lady ,elizabeth ,keppel we are back to ,vandyck again4 ,with a painter who could achieve a portrait like this1 woman once again had the chance of pictorial salvation1 and like the sensible creature that she is1 jumped at it without any hesitation4 ,to sit for her portrait was now no longer a duty to her family1 a bore1 or at best a mere vanity1 but a thrill4 ,mrs4 ,bonfoy1 one of the daughters of ,lord ,eliot in the family group of #agdf1 was among the first to experience it1 sitting to ,reynolds again for a half-length in #aged4 ,this portrait is still at ,port ,eliot1 and is described by ,leslie as 8one of his most beautiful female portraits1 and in perfect preservation4 ,the lady is painted as a half-length in a green dress1 with one hand on her hip1 and the head turned1 with that inimitable ease and ,illustration3 ,,lord ,,heathfield #aghg4 ,national ,gallery1 ,london high-bred grace of which ,reynolds was a master beyond all the painters who ever painted women40 ,this is indeed high praise for what was probably the first female portrait he painted after his return from ,italy4 ,but there is no doubt that ,reynolds had now acquired enough mastery over his 8ignorance0 to be capable of producing work which would be comparable with anything he was to do in the future4 ,tom ,taylor notes another half-length painted in the spring of the following year in hardly less glowing terms2 it is of ,mrs4 ,molesworth--8a young and lovely brunette1 in one of the quaint every-day dresses of the time1 closely copied1 without the least attempt at #8idealising' or #8generalising1' with flowers in her hand1 a little cap on her head1 a prim apron1 and a lawn kerchief closely covering her shoulders4 ,it is one of the most attractive of his female portraits1 and especially valuable for its literalness40 ,that his very earliest works should receive1 and indeed deserve1 such commendation requires emphasising in order to restore to him a good deal of the credit for the revival of portraiture in ,england which nowadays is given to his only successful rivals1 ,gainsborough and ,romney4 ,the fascination that ,gainsborough's natural genius throws over his admirers--and ,reynolds himself was not entirely unaffected by it--is apt to blind them to the more solid merit of the other1 and the fact that ,reynolds had achieved so much before ,gainsborough had really started painting portraits is apt to be overlooked4 ,in #agea1 when ,sir ,joshua had fairly established his reputation1 ,gainsborough had only just left his native place and settled in ,bath1 and it was not until #aggd--twenty-one years after ,reynolds--that he came to ,london and seriously competed with him for the public favour4 ,romney1 again1 although he was working in ,london as early as #agfa1 was never a serious competitor till his return from a two years' tour in ,italy in #agge4 ,for twenty years at least then ,reynolds had practically as complete a monopoly of portraiture among the nobility as ,kneller had had at the opening of the century1 and we have only to think once in forming our estimate of the use he made of it4 ,scattered throughout our old country mansions in ,england are hundreds of his works1 occasionally in groups as at ,lord ,lansdowne's at ,bowood1 or ,lord ,albemarle's at ,quidenham1 few of which are not prized by their owners as the chief glory of their possessions4 ,in our public galleries are a few comparatively--for the number of his authentic pictures enumerated by ,sir ,walter ,armstrong is something over a thousand--but such as they are1 they take their place unquestioned among those of the great masters4 ,never was an aristocracy more fortunate in their painter4 ,but youth and beauty and the immortality conferred by ,sir ,joshua were not exclusive privileges of the nobility4 ,to ,lord ,mount ,edgcumbe and ,captain ,keppel1 ,reynolds owed the beginning of his patronage in ,court circles1 but to the latter he was also indebted for the acquaintance of one of his fairest sitters1 ,kitty ,fisher1 the daughter of a ,german staymaker1 who was the most celebrated ,traviata of her time4 ,for her biography the reader may refer to ,mr4 ,horace ,bleackley's 8,ladies ,fair and ,frail40 ,she first sat to ,reynolds in ,april #agei1 the portrait being commissioned by ,sir ,charles ,bingham1 who was afterwards created ,lord ,lucan4 ,at that time she was barely twenty years old1 and was under the protection of ,captain ,keppel4 ,old ,lord ,ligonier was also one of her many admirers1 and is said to have conspired with the ,king in playing off a joke at the expense of ,pitt 7,lord ,chatham7 by introducing ,kitty to him at a review in ,hyde ,park as a foreign ,duchess4 ,the ,king fell in with the idea1 and1 looking towards ,kitty1 asked aloud who she was4 8,oh1 ,sir10 said the old ,general1 8the ,duchess of ,n---1 a foreign lady that the ,secretary should know40 8,well1 well10 said the ,king1 8introduce him40 ,lord ,ligonier took ,pitt up to her and said1 8,this is ,mr4 ,secretary ,pitt--this is ,miss ,kitty ,fisher40 ,pitt behaved very well1 and without showing the least embarrassment1 told her he was sorry he had not known her when he was younger4 8,for then1 ,madame10 he concluded1 8,i should have had the hope of succeeding in your affections2 but old and infirm as you now see me ,i have no other way of avoiding the force of such beauty but by flying from it10 and then hobbled off4 ,leslie mentions having seen as many as five portraits of ,kitty1 which must all have been painted about the same time4 ,in one1 a three-quarter length1 she holds a dove in her lap4 ,of this there are three versions1 one of which belongs to ,earl ,crewe1 and another to ,mr4 ,lenox of ,new ,york 7#ahfe74 ,another portrait of ,kitty is in the possession of ,lord ,leconfield1 at ,petworth1 ,sussex4 ,in this she is leaning with folded arms on a table1 facing the painter4 ,this1 and a fifth1 as ,cleopatra dissolving a pearl1 are better known by having been mezzotinted4 ,tom ,taylor mentions two more1 one belonging to ,lord ,lansdowne1 in profile with a parrot on her forefinger1 and another1 which he considers the loveliest of all1 belonging to ,lord ,carysfort--an unfinished head in powder and a fly-cap4 ,within a couple of years 7#agfa7 ,reynolds was painting ,kitty's rival1 the fascinating ,nelly ,o',brien1 with apparently as much relish and assiduity and even more success4 ,in #agfc he painted the exquisite picture of her which is here reproduced from the original at ,hertford ,house4 ,it is odd to think of ,sir ,joshua engaged in painting portrait after portrait of these fascinating but frail ladies with the same care1 the same thoroughness1 and the same wonderful breadth and seriousness as any of the men and women whose names were foremost in the growing culture and dignity of the nation4 ,with ,nelly ,o',brien we know that he dined1 and the only reason to suppose that he was not on easy terms of familiarity with any of them--if it can be called a reason--is the general dignity of his mind and deportment1 as evidenced by his relations with ,dr4 ,johnson1 the ,burney family1 and all the great and learned people of his time4 ,the main thing1 however1 to be considered is that as an artist he made no difference between the virtuous and the frail4 ,that he was paid for painting them need hardly be mentioned1 as that has nothing whatever to do with the question4 ,but that he was as much in earnest with these commissions as with any other is a proof of the perfect balance of his mind1 which in view of his sometimes over-academical dignity has rather escaped notice4 ,in #aggj1 by which time he was ,president of the ,royal ,academy and a knight1 he was painting a portrait of ,polly ,kennedy--for the details of whose tragic history ,i may again refer the readers to ,mr4 ,bleackley's book--for ,sir ,charles ,bunbury4 8,among the rich collection of pictures by ,reynolds at ,barton10 says ,leslie1 8is one representing a young and handsome woman1 with aquiline features1 marked by the tension of anxiety4 ,one hand is raised and holds a handkerchief4 ,the dress is a rich robe of flowered scarlet and silver brocade1 worn over an inner vest of bright colours1 with a shawl of green and gold round the waist4 ,it looks like the portrait of an actress1 but the veiled look of pain does not belong to the stage2 it is meant1 ,i believe1 to tell a tale of real and prolonged suffering40 ,whether or not ,leslie's conjecture is justified1 it is certain that ,sir ,joshua wrote to ,sir ,charles ,bunbury about the picture in terms which leave no doubt as to the pains he was at in executing the commission3 ,sept4 #aggj ,,dear ,,sir1--,i have finished the face very much to my own satisfaction4 ,it has more grace and dignity than anything ,i have ever done1 and it is the best coloured4 ,as to the dress1 ,i should be glad it might be left undetermined till ,i return from my fortnight's tour4 ,when ,i return ,i will try different dresses4 ,the ,eastern dresses are very rich1 and have one sort of dignity2 but 'tis a mock dignity in comparison with the simplicity of the antique4 ,the impatience ,i have to finish it will shorten my stay in the country4 ,i shall set out in an hour's time4 ,i am with the greatest respect1 ,your most obliged servant1 ,j4 ,,reynolds4 ,in the ,exhibition of #aghd there appeared the famous ,mrs4 ,siddons as the ,tragic ,muse1 of which ,sir ,joshua painted two if not three originals4 ,one is at ,grosvenor ,house1 having been purchased in #ahbb by the first ,marquis of ,westminster for #agfj guineas4 7,at the sale of ,reynolds's pictures in #agif it fetched #gjj47 ,another is in the ,dulwich ,gallery1 and a third was given by ,sir ,joshua to ,mr4 ,harvey1 of ,langley ,park1 ,stowe1 in exchange for a picture of a boar hunt by ,snyders1 which he admired very much4 ,the ,dulwich replica 7which1 according to ,northcote1 was painted by one of ,reynolds's assistants7 was sold by ,reynolds in #aghi to ,m4 ,desenfans--whose collection formed the bulk of the pictures now in the ,dulwich ,gallery--for #gce4 ,in this portrait1 for once1 we can find a certain reminiscence of ,reynolds's visit to ,rome1 namely in the resemblance of the attitude to that of ,michel ,angelo's ,isaiah and the two attendant figures4 ,it is recorded that ,mrs4 ,siddons herself told ,mr4 ,phillips 8that it was the production of pure accident3 ,sir ,joshua had begun the head and figure in a different view1 but while he was occupied in the preparation of some colour she changed her position to look at a picture hanging on the wall of the room4 ,when he again looked at her and saw the action she had assumed he requested her not to move1 and thus arose the beautiful and expressive figure we now see in the picture40 ,but it is easy to understand that a ,illustration3 ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,innocence #aghh4 ,national ,gallery1 ,london slight turn of the head and a complete change of the expression1 which would involve no alteration in the general pose1 is enough to account for this anecdote4 ,mrs4 ,siddons is also reputed to have told a ,miss ,fanshawe1 in whose journal the statement is preserved1 that she did not think that ,sir ,joshua painted the duplicate now at ,grosvenor ,house1 but that the original was at ,dulwich4 ,this contradicts ,northcote1 and we may reasonably question ,miss ,fanshawe's accuracy4 ,mrs4 ,siddons very possibly said a great deal about her picture which listeners were not concerned to take too literally1 but we should like to believe her implicitly when she said that ,sir ,joshua intended to work considerably more on the face1 but that on her telling him that she thought it quite perfect he deferred to her judgment1 and left it as it was at the last sitting4 ,a misunderstanding as to the engraving of this picture occasioned a letter from ,reynolds which is so characteristic of his thoroughness in anything he undertook1 as well as being an enjoyable relief in contrast with some of the rather pedantic passages in his 8,discourses0 and memoranda1 that no excuse is needed for reprinting it in full4 ,valentine ,green1 its unfortunate recipient1 had asked for permission to engrave the picture1 and ,reynolds had politely told him that his application 8should certainly be remembered40 ,mrs4 ,siddons soon afterwards wrote a note to ,reynolds expressing a wish that ,howard should engrave it1 and ,sir ,joshua very naturally consented4 ,green then wrote a long and indignant letter to ,reynolds1 and here is the reply4 ,,sir1--,you have the pleasure1 if it is any pleasure to you1 of reducing me to the most mortifying situation4 ,i must either treat your accusation with the contempt of silence 7which you and your friends may think pleading guilty7 or ,i must submit to vindicate myself like a criminal from a charge given in the most imperious manner2 and this charge no less than that of being a liar4 ,i mentioned in conversation the last time ,i had the honour of seeing you at my house that ,mrs4 ,siddons had wrote a note to me respecting the print4 ,that note1 as ,i expected to be believed1 ,i never dreamt of showing2 and ,i now blush at being forced to send it in my own vindication4 ,this ,i am forced to do as you are pleased to say in your letter that ,mrs4 ,siddons never did write or even speak to me in favour of any artist4 ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,braddyl #aghh or #aghi4 ,wallace ,collection1 ,london ,but supposing ,mrs4 ,siddons out of the question1 my words 7on which you ground your demand of doing the print as a right1 not as a favour7 ,i do not see can be interpreted as such an absolute promise2 they mean only1 in the common acceptation1 that you1 being the person who first applied1 that circumstance should not be forgot--that it should turn the scale in your favour1 supposing an equality in other respects4 ,you say you wait the result of my determination4 ,what sort of determination can you expect after such a letter8 ,you have been so good as to give me a piece of advice--for the future to give unequivocal answers2 ,i shall immediately follow it1 and do now1 in the most unequivocal manner1 inform you that you shall not do the print4 ,with purely historical and subject pictures ,sir ,joshua may be said to have increased his popularity more than his reputation4 ,of this class there are comparatively few1 for while ,malone enumerates one hundred and ten in 8a general list of the most considerable10 no less than thirty-five of these are primarily portraits1 such as ,the ,graces adorning a ,term of ,hymen1 ,the ,marlborough ,family1 c4 c4 ,and while we acknowledge some of his very finest achievements to be portraits and portrait groups treated in this allegorical manner1 when we turn to the 8fancy subjects0 we find little of which the importance is equal to its sentimental charm4 ,nor are the most notable exceptions1 as might be expected1 those for which he received the largest commissions1 namely3 ,the ,infant ,hercules1 #aejj2 ,the ,nativity1 #abjj2 ,macbeth1 #ajjj2 ,cardinal ,beaufort1 #ejj2 ,the ,continence of ,scipio1 #ejj2 ,a ,holy ,family1 #ejj2 ,count ,hugolino1 #djj2 ,a ,gipsy ,telling ,fortunes1 #cej2 ,tuccia1 the ,vestal ,virgin1 #cjj4 ,the ,infant ,hercules was commenced in ,january #aghf1 at a time1 that is to say1 when he was at the very height of his power4 ,his niece1 ,miss ,palmer1 writing to a cousin abroad during this month1 says3 8,my uncle seems more bewitched than ever with his pallet and pencils4 ,he is painting from morning till night1 and the truth is that every picture that he does seems better than the former4 ,he is just going to begin a picture for the ,empress of ,russia1 who has sent to desire he will paint her an historical one4 ,the subject is left to his own choice1 and at present he is undetermined what to choose40 ,the picture is now in ,st4 ,petersburg1 and we ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,siddons ,,as ,,the ,,tragic ,,muse #aghi4 ,dulwich ,gallery only know it from engravings4 ,tom ,taylor considered it 8a confused straggling picture1 quite beyond the power of the painter to manage40 ,but this is scarcely the criticism it deserves1 and we prefer the more adulatory notices of his contemporaries4 ,in the ,exhibition of #aghh--the last but two in which ,reynolds was represented--it was hung over the chimney-piece4 8,it was the first picture which presented itself on entering the room10 says ,northcote1 8and had the most splendid effect of any picture ,i ever saw4444 ,it was a large and grand composition1 and in respect to beauty1 colour1 and expression was equal to any picture known in the world4 ,the middle group1 which received the principal light1 was exquisite in the highest degree40 ,james ,barry was no less enthusiastic over it3 8,nothing can exceed the brilliancy of light1 the force and vigorous effect 444 it possesses all that we look for and are accustomed to admire in ,rembrandt1 united to beautiful forms and to an elevation of mind to which ,rembrandt had no pretensions2 the prophetical agitation of ,tiresias and ,juno1 enveloped with clouds1 hanging over the scene like a black pestilence1 can never be too much admired1 and is1 indeed1 truly sublime40 ,the ,nativity1 which he painted in #aggi1 was purchased by the ,duke of ,rutland at the then unheard of price of #abjj4 ,unfortunately it perished in a fire at ,belvoir ,castle1 and we only know it from the engraving1 and from the rendering of it in glass by ,jervas as the central part of the western window of ,new ,college1 ,oxford4 ,but it is doubtful whether the loss is as great as it is deplorable1 in view of the opinions expressed by at least two not unfriendly critics4 ,mason tells us that 8the day of opening the ,exhibition that year when the picture was in hand approached too hastily upon ,sir ,joshua1 who had resolved that it should then make its public appearance4 ,i saw him at work upon it1 even the very day before it was to be sent thither2 and it grieved me to see him laying loads of colour and varnish upon it44440 ,benjamin ,haydon when the whole series was exhibited in #ahba1 allowing that they are unequalled by any series of allegorical designs painted by an ,english master1 and that the ,charity in particular is 8very lovely10 and 8may take its place triumphantly by any ,correggio on earth10 is merciless to ,the ,nativity4 ,he condemns it for 8having emptiness as breadth1 plastering for surface1 and portrait individuality for general nature40 ,the ,macbeth1 which was commenced just a year after ,the ,infant ,hercules1 was a commission from ,alderman ,boydell--half of which1 by-the-by1 was paid in advance--as part of the scheme for the ,shakespeare ,gallery4 ,the ,cardinal ,beaufort was the same4 ,neither can be said to have advanced ,sir ,joshua's reputation or even his popularity as much as the ,puck1 which was purchased by ,boydell for inclusion in the ,shakespeare series1 although not originally intended for it4 ,the ,continence of ,scipio followed the ,hercules to ,russia4 ,the ,holy ,family1 which was commissioned by ,macklin for a ,bible illustration1 has lately been restored and rehung in the ,national ,gallery4 ,it was for long supposed to have suffered beyond repair1 but the restorer1 if he has not done too much to it1 has certainly not done too little1 and it now presents an appearance which attracts to it a greater amount of attention from the casual visitor than from the student4 ,in his minor works of this class1 however1 there is much more both to charm and to satisfy4 ,if his children have not quite the same spontaneous gaiety of ,gainsborough's1 they have many other qualities and distinctions which ,gainsborough's lack4 ,with the ,heads of ,angels and ,the ,age of ,innocence ,reynolds is sure of his public in any period4 ,the ,strawberry ,girl1 as ,sir ,joshua always maintained1 was one of the 8half-dozen original things0 which he declared no man ever exceeded in his life's work4 ,he repeated the picture several times4 ,lord ,carysfort bought the original from the ,exhibition of #aggc for #ej1 but at the sale of ,samuel ,rogers' collection it was bought by the ,marquis of ,hertford for #bajj guineas4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to realise the full extent of ,england's debt to ,reynolds one must read his 8,discourses0 as well as look at his pictures4 ,it is in passages such as the concluding paragraph of his farewell address to the ,academy students that we find the real secrets of his success4 ,speaking of ,michel ,angelo1 he says3 8,it will not1 ,i hope1 be thought presumptuous in me to appear in the train1 ,i cannot say of his imitators1 but of his admirers4 ,i have taken another course1 one more suited to my abilities and to the taste of the times in which ,i live4 ,yet however unequal ,i feel myself to that attempt1 were ,i now to begin the world ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,nesbit ,,with ,a ,,dove ,wallace ,collection1 ,london again ,i would tread in the steps of that great master2 to kiss the hem of his garment1 to catch the slightest of his perfections would be glory and distinction enough for an ambitious man4 8,i feel a self-congratulation in knowing myself capable of such sensations as he intended to excite4 ,i reflect1 not without vanity1 that these discourses bear testimony of my admiration of that truly divine man1 and ,i should desire that the last words which ,i should pronounce in this ,academy and from this place might be the name of--,michel ,angelo40 ,,index 8,an ,argument in behalf of the ,science of a ,connoisseur10 #h ,armstrong1 ,sir ,walter1 #ci ,bleackley's1 ,horace1 8,ladies ,fair and ,frail10 #ci ,british ,painting in the ,eighteenth ,century1 #b ,burke1 ,edmund1 #af ,burney ,family1 #da ,catts'1 ,jacob1 ,book of ,emblems1 #f ,chudleigh1 ,miss1 commissioned to paint1 #i ,dilettanti ,society1 #ce ,dulwich ,gallery1 #dd ,elizabeth1 ,queen1 #cf 8,english ,society of the ,eighteenth ,century in ,contemporary ,art10 #aj ,farington1 ,joseph1 ,r4,a41 #bj ,fisher1 ,kitty1 #ci ,gainsborough1 ,thomas1 #ad1 #cg1 #ea ,hogarth1 ,william1 #b1 #aa1 #ci ,portrait of ,bishop of ,winchester1 #bi ,holbein's ,duchess of ,milan1 #ce ,hoppner1 #ad ,hudson1 ,thomas1 #h1 #bj ,johnson1 ,samuel1 #ag1 #da ,keppel1 ,captain1 invites ,reynolds to accompany him to the ,mediterranean1 #ab ,lawrence1 ,sir ,thomas1 #ad ,lucan1 ,lord1 #ci ,malone1 ,edmund1 #af1 #ba1 #dg ,marlborough ,group1 #aa ,mason's 8,observations on ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds' ,method of ,colouring10 #bb ,metastasio1 #be ,michel ,angelo1 #ad1 #ae1 #eb ,morland1 ,george1 #af ,mudge1 ,rev4 ,zachariah1 #ag ,northcote1 ,james1 ,r4,a41 #i1 #ca1 #de1 #di ,pictures by ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds ,a ,gipsy telling ,fortunes1 #dh ,a ,holy ,family1 #dh ,boy in a ,turban1 #bj ,captain ,keppel1 #bj1 #bb1 #cj1 #ca ,captain ,orme1 #bh1 #cj1 #ca1 #cb1 #cc ,cardinal ,beaufort1 #dh1 #ea ,charity1 #ej ,continence of ,scipio1 #dh1 #ea ,conversation ,piece1 #aj ,count ,hugolino1 #dh ,heads of ,angels1 #eb ,infant ,hercules1 #cc1 #dh1 #di1 #ea ,kitty ,fisher1 #ci ,ladies ,sarah ,lenox1 ,susan ,strangways1 and ,charles ,james ,fox1 #cd ,ladies ,waldegrave1 #ce ,lady ,caroline ,russell1 #ce ,lady ,elizabeth ,keppel1 #cd1 #ce1 #cf ,lord ,heathfield1 #cb ,lord ,holderness1 #bb ,lord ,ligonier1 #bh1 #cb1 #cc ,lords ,huntingdon and ,stormont1 #bb ,macbeth1 #dh1 #ea ,mr4 ,fane and his ,two ,guardians1 #cb ,mrs4 ,bonfoy1 #cf ,mrs4 ,molesworth1 #cg ,mrs4 ,siddons as the ,tragic ,muse1 #dc ,muscipula1 #cc ,nelly ,o',brien1 #da ,pitt 7,lord ,chatham71 #ci ,polly ,kennedy1 #db ,puck1 #ea ,sleeping ,girl1 #cc ,the ,age of ,innocence1 #eb ,the ,graces adorning a ,term of ,hymen1 #dg ,the ,marlborough ,family1 #dg ,the ,nativity1 #dh1 #ej ,the ,strawberry ,girl1 #eb ,tuccia1 the ,vestal ,virgin1 #dh ,plympton1 ,birthplace of ,reynolds1 #e ,reynolds1 ,sir ,joshua1 birth of1 #e drawing of ,plympton ,school1 #g early efforts1 #e effects of his studies in ,italy1 #ai ,england's debt to1 #eb entries in his pocket-book1 #bh introduction to ,captain ,keppel1 #aa lecturing at the ,academy1 #ad letter to ,sir ,charles ,bunbury1 #dc letter to ,valentine ,green1 #df memoranda of his efforts in ,beechey's ,memoir1 #bd painting ,the ,infant ,hercules1 #dh portrait of himself1 #i ,president of the ,royal ,academy1 #db prices obtained for pictures commissioned1 #dh residence in ,italy1 #ab sent to ,london1 #h settled at ,plymouth1 #i studied under ,thomas ,hudson1 #h success and continued improvement1 #be three years' tour1 #ai ,leslie and ,taylor's ,life of1 #af ,reynolds1 ,rev4 ,samuel1 #e ,richardson1 ,jonathan1 #g1 #bi 8,essay on the whole ,art of ,criticism as it relates to ,painting10 #h 8,an argument in behalf of the ,science of ,connoisseur10 #h ,romney1 ,george1 #ad1 #cg1 #ch ,shakespeare1 ,quotation from1 #cb ,siddons1 ,mrs41 story of her portrait by ,sir ,joshua1 #dd ,taylor1 ,tom1 #cg1 #da1 #di ,thornhill1 ,sir ,james1 #b ,veronese1 ,paul1 #ce ,walpole1 ,horace1 #h ,west1 ,benjamin1 #ae ,westmorland1 ,earl of1 ,collection1 #cb ,,printed ,,at ,,the ,,ballantyne ,,press ,,london