Disclaimer

Joshua Reynolds

English Rococo Painter, Collector & Writer

1723 - 1792


Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of the most important and influential of 18th century English painters, specializing in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy. George III appreciated his merits and knighted him in 1769.


George III: 1761

George III (1738-1820), king of Great Britain. He was the first of the House of Hanover to command general respect on becoming sovereign, and at the outset he conciliated all classes of his subjects. In 1761 he married Charlotte Sophia, princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. During the administration of George III's favorite Prime Minister, Lord North, the American colonies, protesting England's attempts at taxation, proclaimed, on the 4th of July, 1776, and, eventually, achieved their independence. The peace treaty was signed in February 1783. George III welcomed the union between Ireland and Great Britain, but refused the proposed Catholic emancipation, which led to the resignation of William Pitt in 1801. In 1810, his favorite child, Princess Amelia, fell dangerously ill; this caused an attack of mental derangement, not the first he had had. In 1811, his eldest son George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) was appointed regent. And till his death, on 29 January 1820, George was hopelessly insane; he also lost his sight. His ailment is now believed to have been caused by porphyria.


George III: 1759


Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devon, on 16 July 1723. As one of eleven children, and the son of the village school-master, Reynolds was restricted to a formal education provided by his father. He exhibited a natural curiosity and, as a boy, came under the influence of Zachariah Mudge, whose Platonic Philosophy stayed with him all his life.

Showing an early interest in art, Reynolds was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable portrait painter Thomas Hudson, with whom he remained until 1743. From 1749 to 1752, he spent over two years in Italy, where he studied the Old Masters and acquired a taste for the "Grand Style". Unfortunately, while in Rome, Reynolds suffered a severe cold which left him partially deaf and, as a result, he began to carry a small ear trumpet with which he is often pictured. From 1753 until the end of his life he lived in London, his talents gaining recognition soon after his arrival in France.

Reynolds worked long hours in his studio, rarely taking a holiday. He was both gregarious and keenly intellectual, with a great number of friends from London's intelligentsia, numbered among whom were Dr. Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, Giuseppe Baretti, Henry Thrale, David Garrick and fellow artist Angelica Kauffmann. Because of his popularity as a portrait painter, Reynolds enjoyed constant interaction with the wealthy and famous men and women of the day, and it was he who first brought together the famous figures of "The" Club.


Samuel Johnson: 1756-57

Samuel Johnson (1709-84) was a poet, essayist, literary critic, dramatist and author of the celebrated Dictionary of the English Language (1755), son of Michael Johnson, bookseller, and his wife, Sarah Ford. On 8 July 1735, he married Elizabeth Porter (1689-1752), a widow. In 1737 he went to London where he met Reynolds ca 1756, at whose suggestion the Literary Club was founded in 1764, centered around Johnson as a conversationalist.


Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke first found fame in 1757 as the author of a treatise on aesthetics, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. In it he examines the conflicting emotions aroused by pain, terror and immensity.

Burke exerted a tremendous influence upon Reynolds, shaping his views on philosophy and politics. It was also Burke who effectively transformed Reynolds from an artist with sympathy for Whig ideals into the 'principal painter' to the Whig party.


Giuseppe Baretti: 1773

Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti was a literary critic and translator. By the early 1770's he was employed as a live-in tutor in Italian and Spanish to Henry Thrale's eldest daughter, Hester Maria.

Reynolds presents Baretti as a myopic scholar, in an attempt to counteract his public image which was still colored by his trial for murder in 1769. Baretti narrowly escaped hanging after stabbing a pimp to death in a violent street brawl.


Mrs Henry Thrale with Her Daughter: 1777

Reynolds painted this portrait to hang over the chimneypiece in Henry Thrale's library. Mrs. Thrale, an intellectual renowned for her sharp tongue and caustic wit, disliked the picture. She told a friend that 'there is really no resemblance, and the character is less like my father's daughter than Pharaoh's'.

In the event the portrait was not hung with the other portraits in the library - on the pretext that her husband did not like it.

Henry Thrale


David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy: 1760-61

David Garrick (1717-1779), British actor, playwright and theater manager was descended from a French Protestant family named Garric or Garrique of Bordeaux, which had settled in England. He started his career of a playwright with a dramatic piece, Lethe, or Aesop in the Shades, it was played at Drury Lane on the 15th of April 1740. A year later he made his first appearance on the stage. First he played under the name of Lyddal. His success strengthened his desire to make a theater career. He became the most popular player of Shakespearian roles of his time - playing Hamlet, Lear, Richard, among others. He also became a co-owner and manager of Drury Lane Theater.

Garrick practically ceased to act in 1766, but he continued the management of Drury Lane. In 1776 he sold his share in the property, and took leave of the stage by playing a round of his favorite characters.

David Garrick: 1767


Angelica Kauffmann - Self Portrait: 1760's


With his rival Thomas Gainsborough, Reynolds was the dominant English portraitist of 'the Age of Johnson'. It is said that in his long life he painted as many as three thousand portraits. In 1789 he lost the sight of his left eye, which finally forced him into retirement and, on 23 February 1792, he died in his house in Leicester Fields, London. He is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Professionally, Reynolds' career never peaked. He was one of the earliest members of the Royal Society of Arts and, with Gainsborough, established the Royal Academy of Arts as a spin-off organization. In 1768 he was made the RA's first President, a position he held until his death. As a lecturer, Reynolds' Discourses on Art (delivered between 1769 and 1790) are remembered for their sensitivity and perception. In one of these lectures he was of the opinion that "invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory."

Reynolds and the Royal Academy have historically received a mixed reception. Critics include many of the Pre-Raphaelites, and William Blake, the latter having published his vitriolic Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses in 1808. To the contrary, both J. M. W. Turner and James Northcote were fervent acolytes: Turner requested he be laid to rest at Reynolds' side, and Northcote (who lived for four years as Reynolds' pupil) wrote to his family "I know him thoroughly, and all his faults, I am sure, and yet almost worship him." The word worship is second cast; originally Northcote had written adore.

In appearance Reynolds was not at all striking. Slight of frame, he was just about 5'6" with dark brown curls, a florid complexion and features which James Boswell thought were "rather too largely and strongly limned. " He had a broad face, a cleft chin, and the bridge of his nose was slightly dented; his skin was scarred by smallpox, and his upper lip disfigured as a result of falling from a horse as a young man. Nonetheless he was not considered ugly, and Edmond Malone asserted that "his appearance at first sight impressed the spectator with the idea of a well-born and well-bred English gentleman."

Renowned for his calm and peaceful nature, Reynolds often claimed that he "hated nobody". Never quite losing his Devonshire accent, he was not only an amiable and original conversationalist but a friendly and generous host, so that Fanny Burney recorded in her diary that he had "a suavity of disposition that set everybody at their ease in his society", and William Makepeace Thackeray believed "of all the polite men of that age, Joshua Reynolds was the finest gentleman." Dr. Johnson commented on the inoffensiveness of his nature; Edmund Burke noted his "strong turn for humor". Thomas Bernard, who later became Bishop of Killaloe, wrote in his verses on Reynolds :

"Dear knight of Plympton, teach me how
To suffer, with unruffled brow
And smile serene, like thine,
The jest uncouth or truth severe;
To such I'll turn my deafest ear
And calmly drink my wine.

Thou say'st not only skill is gained
But genius too may be attained
By studious imitation;
Thy temper mild, thy genius fine
I'll copy till I make them mine
By constant application."

Admittedly, some did construe Reynolds' equable calm as cool and unfeeling. Hester Lynch Piozzi's pen-portrait reads:

"Of Reynolds what good shall be said?- or what harm?
His temper too frigid; his pencil too warm;
A rage for sublimity ill understood,
To seek still for the great, by forsaking the good..."

It is to this luke-warm temperament that Frederick W. Hilles, Bodman Professor of English Literature at Yale attributes the fact Reynolds never married. In the editorial notes of his compendium Portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Hilles theorizes that "as a corollary one might say that he (Reynolds) was somewhat lacking in a capacity for love", and cites Boswell's notary papers:

"He said that the reason he would never marry was that every woman whom he liked had grown indifferent to him, and he had been glad he did not marry her."

Reynolds' own sister, Frances, who lived with him as housekeeper, took her own negative opinion further still, thinking him "a gloomy tyrant". Strangely, it was this very presence of family that compensated Reynolds for the absence of a wife. He wrote on one occasion to his friend Bennet Langton, that both his sister and niece were away from home "so that I am quite a bachelor." Biographer Ian McIntyre discusses the possibility of Reynolds having enjoyed sexual rendezvous with certain clients, such as Nelly O'Brien (or "My Lady O'Brien", as he playfully dubbed her) and Kitty Fisher, who visited his house for more sittings than were strictly necessary. Claims to this end are, however, purely speculative.


A Fortune Teller: 1777-1778


A Strawberry Girl: 1773

It seems probable that the fame of Sir Joshua Reynolds will endure more by reason of his famous Discourses addressed annually to the Royal Academy after he became its first President, than of the work which was the cause of his greatness. Owing to his unfortunate habit of experimenting with pigments to discover the secrets of the Old Masters, whose canvases he would sometimes cut up for the purpose, his paintings lack permanence, and already some of them are wrecks and cannot be exhibited to the public.

It has often been laid down as the law that the artist, whether in paint or in words, who works for money and caters for the popular taste sacrifices thereby the richer treasures of his genius. Instances abound in proof of this rule; but it may be said of Sir Joshua Reynolds that he was largely an exception to it. Even if we argue that his work does not attain the supreme height of genius, there is still enough of that elusive quality in it to make his case remarkable.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was perhaps the most popular portrait painter who ever lived. The world of fashion flocked in crowds to his studio, and it is amazing that, with all the claims upon his time, both by his sitters for portraits, and by the work entailed by the preparation of his Discourses on Art, he should still have found leisure for producing such subject pictures as "The Strawberry Girl" or his charming "Heads of Angels," in which he depicts the tender graces of perfect childhood.

"The Strawberry Girl" was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1773, and was described by Reynolds himself as "one of the half-dozen original things which no man ever exceeded in his life work."


Adam Ferguson: 1781-82

Adam Ferguson was an eminent Scottish philosopher and historian. He was recognized as the father of modern sociology for his writings, particularly the Principles of Moral and Political Science 1792.

Ferguson believed in the progress of humankind, and used his knowledge of the classical world to advance arguments on the ameliorative nature of society. He had much in common with Reynolds's immediate intellectual circle, which may have prompted him to commission this portrait.


Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton: 1782

Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, 7th Duke of Brandon was a Scottish politician.

Born on October 3, 1767 at St James Square, London, he was educated at Harrow School and at Christ Church, Oxford University.

Hamilton was a Whig, and his political career began in 1802, when he became MP for Lancaster. He remained in the House of Commons until 1806, when he was appointed to the Privy Council, and Ambassador to the court of Saint Petersburg until 1807; additionally, he was Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire from 1802 to 1852. He received the numerous titles at his father's death in 1819. He was Lord High Steward at King William IV's coronation in 1831 and Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838, and remains the last person to have undertaken this duty twice. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1836. He held the office of Grand Master of the Freemasons (Scotland) between 1820 and 1822. He held the office of President of the Highland and Agricultural Society (Scotland) between 1827 and 1831. He held the office of Trustee of the British Museum between 1834 and 1852.

He married Susan Euphemia Beckford, daughter of William Beckford and Lady Margaret Gordon, on 26 April 1810 in London, England.

Hamilton was a well-known dandy of his day. An obituary notice states that "timidity and variableness of temperament prevented his rendering much service to, or being much relied on by his party ... With a great predisposition to over-estimate the importance of ancient birth ... he well deserved to be considered the proudest man in England."

Lord Lamington, in The Days of the Dandies, wrote of him that 'never was such a magnifico as the 10th Duke, the Ambassador to the Empress Catherine; when I knew him he was very old, but held himself straight as any grenadier. He was always dressed in a military laced undress coat, tights and Hessian boots. Lady Stafford in letters to her son mentioned 'his great Coat, long Queue, and Fingers covered with gold Rings', and his foreign appearance. According to another obituary, this time in Gentleman's Magazine he had 'an intense family pride'.

Hamilton had a strong interest in Ancient Egyptian mummies, and was so impressed with the work of mummy expert Thomas Pettigrew that he arranged for Pettigrew to mummify him after his death. He died on August 18, 1852 at age 84 at 12 Portman Square, London, England and was buried on September 4, 1852 at Hamilton Palace, Hamilton, Scotland. In accordance with his wishes, Hamilton's body was mummified after his death and placed in a sarcophagus on his estate.

His collection of paintings, objects, books and manuscripts was sold for £397,562 in July 1882. The manuscripts were purchased by the German government for £80,000. Some were repurchased by the British government and are now in the British Museum.


Anne, Countess of Albemarle: 1759

The Countess of Albemarle was begun in 1757, three years after the death of her husband. The second Earl died suddenly in Paris, (leaving his family in debt), and Reynolds's portrait was not paid for until 1773.

The sitter was the mother of Reynolds's friend Commodore (later Admiral) Keppel, with whom he sailed to Italy in 1749.

The closely wrapped black shawl suggests her status as a widow, and her occupation is that of 'knotting', a fashionable occupation of the time akin to crochet work.


Anne Dashwood: 1764

The sitter was the daughter of Sir James Dashwood, Member of Parliament for Oxford (whose portrait by Seeman is in the Aitken Galleries). She sat for Reynolds three times in the month preceding her marriage on June 13, 1764, to John Stewart, Lord Garlies, later seventh earl of Galloway. The artist presents her in the traditional guise of a shepherdess, but wearing rubies, pearls, and a gauze scarf, and with her hair dressed stylishly.


Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton: 1783-84

Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton (18 May 1726 - 30 October 1796) was a Scottish soldier and Member of Parliament (MP) in the British Parliament. He was the second son of Alexander Montgomerie, 9th Earl of Eglinton.

Montgomerie was educated at Eton College and Winchester School. He joined the Army in 1743, becoming a major general in 1772, a lieutenant general in 1777 and a general in 1793.

During his army career Montgomerie raised a Highland battalion. He participated along with George Washington in the Forbes expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1758. In 1760, he commanded an expedition against the Cherokee during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

He was elected for two seats in the 1761 general election. He chose to give up Wigtown Burghs, to sit for Ayrshire. He served in the House of Commons 1761-1768.

He inherited the Earldom on 25 October, 1769 when his brother Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton was murdered. He served as a Scottish representative peer 1776-1796. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire 1794-1796.

On his death the Earldom passed to a third cousin, Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton.


Augustus Keppel: 1752-53

Augustus Keppel was a celebrated British naval commander, and a close friend of Reynolds. As the son of the second Earl of Albemarle, Keppel was also to prove one of Reynolds's most influential patrons.

This portrait, painted immediately after Reynolds's return from Italy in 1752, was one of his most important early works. The pose, based on a drawing Reynolds had made of a statue of Apollo, emphasizes Keppel's heroic qualities.


Augustus, 1st Viscount Keppel: (1725-86)


Augustus Keppel: 1779


Augustus Keppel: 1781-83

Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel


Boy Holding a Bunch of Grapes: 1770's


Brown Boy


Captain John Foote: 1761

Three-quarter length portrait is of Capt. Foote of East India Co, who was a friend and neighbor of Reynolds. He is in Eastern dress, wearing a turban which is accompanied by the sitter's actual costume.


Captain Robert Orme: 1756

This portrait shows the thirty-year-old Captain Robert Orme in the uniform of the Coldstream Guards, standing in a corner of a North American forest.

Significantly, the scene in the distance is not, as you might expect, a celebrated military victory. Instead it shows a catastrophic defeat by the French army near the Monongahela River in America, in the summer of 1755. Nearly nine hundred British and American soldiers were slaughtered; Orme, though shot in the leg, survived.


Caroline, Duchess of Marlborough: 1759-62


Caroline, Lady Holland: 1757-58


Catherine, Lady Bampfylde: 1776

This portrait was probably commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Catherine Moore to Charles Warwick Bampfylde in 1776. Lady Bampfylde's pose is a witty adaptation of the famous classical statue, the Venus de' Medici then regarded as the embodiment of female beauty. In the classical statue the goddess's hands are positioned over her breasts and genitalia, simultaneously emphasizing her modesty and her sexual potency. Here Reynolds has slightly lowered the left arm, while the right arm, gesturing towards the white lilies, casts an artful shadow across the area of the figure's lower torso.


Catherine, Lady Chambers: 1756


Charles Burney: 1781

Charles Burney was a composer and music historian. He became famous through a series of travel books based on tours of France, Italy and Germany. These included Burney's encounters with celebrated men including the philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau, and the composers Gluck and CPE Bach.

Burney had been awarded a doctorate in music by the University of Oxford in 1769, and is shown in his academic robes. Unusually, Reynolds painted this portrait in the Thrales' house at Streatham rather than his own studio.


Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellamont: 1773


Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond: 1758

Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox (1735-1806), British statesman, was the elder son of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond (a legitimate descendant of an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England) and his wife Lady Sarah, daughter of Earl Cadogan. In 1757 he married Lady Mary Bruce (see her portrait Mary, Duchess of Richmond).

In 1765 he was appointed British ambassador extraordinary in Paris, and in the following year he became a secretary of state.

The Duke was a firm supporter of the American colonists; and he initiated the debate of 1778 calling for the removal of troops from America.

He opened, in March 1758, at his house in Whitehall, a gallery of casts of antique statues where students could draw under the direction of Wilton and Cipriani. He soon lost interest and the gallery was closed in either 1765 or 1766. He was a member of the Society of Dilettanti. Richmond died in December 1806, and, leaving no legitimate children, he was succeeded in the peerage by his nephew Charles, son of his brother, General Lord George Henry Lennox.


Charles Rogers: 1777

This portrait was commissioned from Reynolds by Charles Rogers in 1777. It was engraved the following year by William Ryland (1733-1783) and appeared in both volumes of Rogers work Imitation of Drawings published in 1778.

Rogers had some reservations about the portrait and he later wrote to Walpole that he thought it made him look too young. Walpole responded that 'posterity will not know at what age the Likeness was taken'.


Clotworthy Skeffington Later, 1st Earl of Massereene: 1744-46


Cimon and Iphigenia: 1780's

Cimon and Iphigenia is from Decameron. Cimon, the son of a nobleman of Cyprus, a handsome, though coarse and unlettered, youth, fell in love with the girl Iphigenia. The love made him a miracle; he was turned into an accomplished and polished courtier.


Colonel George K H Coussmaker, Grenadier Guards

Reynolds gave close attention to his portrait of George Kein Hayward Coussmaker, a lieutenant and captain in the first regiment of Foot Guards. No fewer than twenty-one appointments-and at least two more for the sitter's horse-are recorded between February 9 and April 16, 1782. The composition is complex and the whole vigorously painted.


Colonel Tarleton: 1782

The sitter, Colonel Banastre Tarleton (1754 - 1833) distinguished himself in the American War of Independence, and returned to England as a lieutenant-colonel about the beginning of 1782. Later he was Member of Parliament for Liverpool, a general and a baronet.

This work was painted in 1782. Tarleton is in the uniform of a troop, raised during the American campaign, known as the British Legion or (for the cavalry part) Tarleton's Green Horse, of which he was commandant.

It is assumed that the flag above him is of the British Legion. In 1781 Tarleton lost two fingers of his right hand, as Reynolds discreetly shows.


Cupid Undoing Venus's Belt: 1788

Aphrodite/Venus is well known for her Magic Girdle or embroidered belt, made of gold filigree crafted lovingly by her husband, the smith god Hephaestus/Vulcan. When she wore it, she was irresistible! Other goddesses sometimes borrowed this girdle when they wanted to turn on their love light. When we wear the Girdle of Venus, we surround ourselves in an aura of love, desire, beauty, magnetism and charm. This is the natural beauty of our spirit that shines through, no matter what our physical appearance looks like.


Diana Sackville: 1777


Dorothy, Countess of Lisburne

Portrait of Dorothy, Countess of Lisburne, nee Shafto, eldest daughter of John Shafto of Whitworth, county Durham. She married the Hon. Wilmpt Vaugham (1729-1800), as his second wife, on April 19, 1763. Her husband succeeded to the title of 4th Viscount Lisburne in 1766 and was created the 1st Earl of Lisburne in 1776.


Edward Morant and His Son John: 1759


Elizabeth, Countess of Pembroke and Her Son: 1764-67

She was admired by George III in the early 1760's, and became the principal lady-in-waiting (Mistress of the Robes) to his wife, Queen Charlotte. The King and Queen stayed for two nights with Elizabeth and her husband Henry at Wilton House in 1778.


Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton and Argyll: 1758-59


Emily, Duchess of Leinster: 1753

Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (1731-1814), known before 1747 as The Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox, and illegitimately descended from King Charles II of England.

In 1747, at the age of fifteen, she married the immensely wealthy James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, and went to live in Ireland.

The marriage was a happy one, despite Lord Kildare's inability to be sexually faithful. The couple had nineteen children.


Emily, Duchess of Leinster: 1770's


Francis Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon: 1754

Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon PC (13 March 1729-2 October 1789) was a British peer; the son of the 9th Earl of Huntingdon and his wife, Selina. Hastings succeeded as Earl of Huntingdon and Baron Botreaux on his father's demise in 1746. The earl never married but did father an illegitimate son, Charles, by a Parisian girl while on his Grand Tour in 1747 (which was sponsored by the 4th Earl of Chesterfield). On his return from the continent, he did well at the Royal Court and was appointed Master of the Horse in 1760. He was a Bearer of the Third Sword at George III's coronation in 1761 and became Groom of the Stole that year. In 1762, he incorrectly announced to the King that his first born child, (Prince George), by the Queen, was a girl. The error was doubly unfortunate at the time, as the King had hoped for a male heir and he also promised £1,000 to the bearer of the news that he had a son and £500 that he had a girl (Huntingdon did not receive either). On his death in 1789, his earldom passed to a distant relative, Theophilus and his barony passed to his sister, Elizabeth.


Francis Rawdon Hastings

"Francis Rawdon-Hastings" was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in Oil on canvas during the Rococo epoch in ca 1789. The style of the painting is Rococo and the theme represented is Figure. The painting is currently displayed at Royal Collection, Windsor.


Francis Seymour Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford: 1785

He was a descendant of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and his first wife Catharine Fillol. Their marriage was annulled and their children declared illegitimate. Their son Sir Edward Seymour (d. 6 May 1593) later served as a Sheriff of Devon.

The Sheriff of Devon was father to Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet of Berry Pomeroy, grandfather of Sir Edward Seymour, 2nd Baronet of Berry Pomeroy, great-grandfather of Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet of Berry Pomeroy and a fourth-generation ancestor of Sir Edward Seymour, 4th Baronet of Berry Pomeroy.

The 4th Baronet was father to Sir Edward Seymour, 5th Baronet of Berry Pomeroy and grandfather to Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset. His younger son was Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Lord Conway (1679-1732).

Lord Conway married Charlotte Shorter, a daughter of John Shorter of Bybrook. They were the parents of the Marquess. His father died when the younger Francis was about fourteen years old. The first few years after his father's death were spent in Italy and Paris. On his return to England he took his seat, as 2nd Baron Conway, among the Peers in November 1739.


Frederick, Count of Schaumburg Lippe: 1764-67

Presented to George IV when Prince of Wales


Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle

During his youth Carlisle was mentored by George Selwyn and was chiefly known as a man of pleasure and fashion. He was created a Knight of the Thistle in 1767. After he had reached thirty years of age, his appointment on a commission sent out by Frederick North, Lord North to attempt reconciliation with the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War was received with sneers by the opposition. The failure of the embassy was not due to any incapacity on the part of the earl, but to the unpopularity of the government from which it received its authority. He was, indeed, considered to have displayed so much ability that he was entrusted with the viceroyalty of Ireland in 1780.

The time was one of the greatest difficulty for while the calm of the country was disturbed by the American rebellion, it was drained of regular troops, and large bands of volunteers not under the control of the government had been formed. Nevertheless, the two years of Carlisle's rule passed in quietness and prosperity, and the institution of a national bank and other measures which he affected left permanently beneficial results upon the commerce of the island. In 1789, in the discussions as to the regency, Carlisle took a prominent part on the side of the Prince of Wales.

In 1791 he opposed William Pitt the Younger's policy of resistance to the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire by Imperial Russia; but on the outbreak of the French Revolution he left the opposition and vigorously maintained the cause of war. He resigned from the Order of the Thistle and was created a Knight of the Garter in 1793. In 1815 he opposed the enactment of the Corn Laws; but from this time till his death, he took no important part in public life.


Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle: 1769


Lady Caroline Howard: 1778

Lady Caroline Howard, daughter of Frederick, the fifth Earl of Carlisle, and Margaret Caroline Howard, and niece of Lady Delme, was portrayed by Reynolds at the age of seven.

Reynolds deliberately imposed on his compositions certain formal artistic qualities that would give them the solidity and nobility of Greek, Roman, and Renaissance art. He also liked to suggest associations in his portraits that elevate them to some level beyond the merely descriptive. Roses are symbolically related to Venus and the Three Graces, and Reynolds may well have intended to allude to their attributes, Chastity, Beauty, and Love, as ideals to which Lady Caroline should aspire.

Lady Caroline's father affectionately described his daughter as a determined, strong-minded child whose need for discipline he met fairly but reluctantly. He wrote that she was "always a great favorite," suggesting that her spirited personality made her faults tolerable. Reynolds captured some of Lady Caroline's complexity in the serious, intent expression of her attractive face, her averted gaze, and the tension implied in her closed left hand.


George Ashby: 1756


George Augustus Eliott, Lord Heathfield: 1787

Just weeks before he sat for this portrait, General Eliott had been made Lord Heathfield, a reward for his remarkable achievements as governor of Gibraltar. Eliott became a national hero after successfully defending the peninsula against a three-year siege by the Spanish and French. The key signifies both his and his nation's loyalty to its colony. Significantly, the portrait was commissioned by a print publisher who wanted to exploit Lord Heathfield's celebrity through the sale of prints after this painting.


George Clive and his Family with an Indian Maid: 1765

George Clive was an official of the British East India Company. His brother, Robert Clive, became governor of Bengal, having conquered the province.


George Grenville, Earl Temple, Mary Countess Temple and Their Son Richard: 1780-82


George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer: 1774-76

George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer was an English Whig politician.

Spencer, the son of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was born in 1758 in Wimbledon and was baptized there on the 16 October 1758. His godparents were King George II, Earl Cowper (his grandmother's second husband) and his great-aunt the Dowager Viscountess Bateman. He was educated at Harrow School from 1770 to 1775 and he won the school's Silver Arrow (an archery prize) in 1771. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge from 1776 1778 and graduated with a Master of Arts. Spencer was Whig MP for Northampton from 1780 to 1782 and Whig MP for Surrey from 1782 to 1783. On March 6, 1781, he married Lady Lavinia Bingham (1762-1831), daughter of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan and they had nine children.

He served under Pitt as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1794 to 1801, and then in the Ministry of All the Talents as Home Secretary. He was noted for his interest in literature. His son Lord Althorp was one of the chief architects of the passage of the Great Reform Bill in 1832. His sister Georgiana married the Duke of Devonshire and became a famed Whig hostess. Spencer was also High Steward of Saint Albans from 1783 to 1807, Mayor of Sait Albans in 1790, President of the Royal Institution from 1813 to 1825 and Commissioner of the Public Records in 1831.

He died in 1834, aged 76 at Althorp and was buried in the nearby village of Great Brington on November 19 of that year.


Lavinia Countess Spencer: 1781-82

This feisty Irish temptress may not fully deserve to be categorized as a tart per se, but her personality certainly does leave a sour taste in your mouth! Georgiana may be getting credited as an ancestor of Princess Diana, but Lavinia was Di's great-great-great-great-great-grandmother.

When the 22 year old George Spencer met the gorgeous Lavinia Bingham he became "out of his senses" for her. And why not? She was a blonde with blue eyes, intelligent, personable, and had memorized the book on etiquette (a real win-over for Lady Spencer). Despite his young age and her lack of wealth, Georgiana's brother and Lavinia wed. Now instead of being a daughter of a mere Irish peer she was destined to be the Countess Spencer.

But the monster that lay within Lavinia was vicious; she was two-faced and a hypocrite. She also was very territorial of her man. Anything that came between her and George met the wrath of Lavinia, and this included his two sisters. She made scathing remarks about Georgiana's part in the Westminster election and like a competing child in the schoolyard, seemed to relish in Charles Fox's defeats. Like Georgiana, Lavinia followed politics. Instead of bonding with her sister-in-law over their similar interests, Lavinia spent a lot of her time criticizing her. George must have dearly loved her, for her letters to him throughout their marriage are scathingly critical of Georgiana. It was likely she was just envious of her popularity. Lavinia had made attempts at being a successful socialite. She once tried to rile woman together to erect a statue of a nude Achilles in tribute to the Duke of Wellington. Interesting choice of tribute, Lady S...

She had her opinions on Bess as well, "I really look upon her in every light as the most dangerous devil..." Bess, who usually complimented everyone in her web a manipulation, felt similarly about Lavinia, "Lady S seemed to raise herself three feet in order to look down with contempt on me..." The bitter Lavinia, years later, even went as far as insulting Bess' son, claiming he was "dull as a post." Meow! I'm sure there was a couple rakes who would have loved to see a cat fight break out between those two!

Despite Lavinia previously complaining about London being so odious due to the importance that was put on parties (she was probably put out by not being invited to Georgiana's) she seemed to have finally buried the hatchet with her sister-in-law in the final years of Georgiana's life in order to plan one. The two ladies threw a political ball, finally bringing their similar interests together. When the Duke went on to marry Bess after Georgiana's death, it was Lavinia who insisted they sever all ties. Of course she was probably just happy to finally have an excuse!


Georgiana, Countess Spencer and Her Daughter: 1759-61

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806), nee Spencer, wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire was a leader of London's high society. She was a friend of the Prince of Wales and of Charles James Fox, for whose election in 1784 she campaigned.

Lady Elizabeth Foster, closest friend of Georgiana, later the Duchess of Devonshire. She lived together with the 5th Duke of Devonshire and Georgiana, the Duchess, bearing the Duke two children. After Georgiana's death she married the Duke.

Georgiana, Countess Spencer - her mother. On the portrait she is with Georgiana future Duchess of Devonshire as a child.

George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer - her brother


"When Lady Georgiana Spencer married the fifth Duke of Devonshire in 1774 she was just seventeen. Her ebullience, her charm, her freedom from aristocratic aloofness, all combined to make her not only the leader of London's high society but one of the most popular figures that English social life has ever produced. However, beneath the brilliant facade she was afflicted by private sorrows - incurably addicted to gambling, unloved by her apathetic husband and childless.

Then into her life and that of her husband, came Lady Elizabeth Foster who was not only to remain her closest friend and confidante for the rest of the Duchess's life but also her husband's mistress. For over twenty years the three lived together with a harmony only interrupted by Lady Elizabeth's departure abroad to give birth to the Duke's children, and Georgiana's own banishment to Europe when she was carrying a baby by Charles Grey, later to be Prime Minister. The various offspring, legitimate and illegitimate, made for a complicated nursery."


Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: 1775-76


Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and Her Daughter: 1784


Gertrude, Duchess of Bedford: 1756

By Reynolds. She is fashionably dressed with self-fabric ruching decorating her skirt, spectacular engageantes, a lace neck scarf, and her bodice decorated with bows arranged en echelle. Her white lace cravat and her white jacket and cap, both decorated with lace, complement her blue gown.

"Her husband was John Russel, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710-1771) a British statesman. He was the second son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey. In 1731 Lord John Russell married Lady Diana Spencer (d. 1735), daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland. A year later, after his elder brother's death he became Duke of Bedford. In April 1737 he married Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower (d. 1794), daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower."


Henri Fane with His Guardians: 1760-62

The conversation piece came into vogue in Britain in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. A conversation, as it was then called, was a portrait of relatives or friends, at home and at leisure, engaged, as here, in some convivial activity. The genre evolved from seventeenth-century Dutch and contemporary French genre paintings. Small "conversations," featuring figures twelve to fifteen inches tall, were widely available for modest prices. The more popular artists moved to larger towns and eventually to London, where they painted portraits of various formats to the scale of life. Leaving royal group portraits aside, Thomas Fane, the younger son of the eighth earl of Westmoreland, is the principal subject of what seems to be the largest of conversation pieces, a vehicle for the display of the young Reynolds's exceptional talent.


Isabella, Lady Beauchamp: 1777-78

The portrait was painted in 1777 when the sitter was aged 18. It was engraved twenty years later by R Cribb of Holborn and dedicated to her sister the Hon Mrs Aston. Lady Hertford achieved considerable notoriety in middle age when she became the confidante of the Prince of Wales. They are said to have met through a contest of Mrs Fitzherbert over the guardianship of Minnie Seymour, daughter of Lady Horatia Seymour (Lady Hertford's sister-in-law). The child was left in the guardianship of Mrs Fitzherbert but, on appeal, with the award of the child to Lord Hertford. The Prince nevertheless persuaded Lady Hertford to surrender her to Mrs Fitzherbert who thus 'won a daughter but lost a husband'. In politics Lady Hertford was a reactionary and anti-Catholic and made Manchester House the headquarters of the Tory party until the charms of Lady Conyngham deprived her of her Prince.


James FitzGerald, Duke of Leinster: 1753

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster was an Irish nobleman and politician. He was the son of the 19th Earl of Kildare, and as Lord Offaly was Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons for Athy before succeeding his father as 20th Earl of Kildare in 1744.

In 1747, on the occasion of his marriage to Lady Emily Lennox, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Richmond, he was in the Peerage of Great Britain created Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham, and took his seat at Westminster that same year. From 1749 to 1755 he was one of the leaders of the Popular Party in Ireland, and served as the country's Master-General of the Ordnance between 1758 and 1766, becoming Colonel of the Royal Irish Artillery in 1760.

In 1761 Lord Kildare was created Marquess of Kildare and Earl of Offaly in the Peerage of Ireland, and in 1766 he was created Duke of Leinster, becoming by this time the Premier Duke, Marquess and Earl in the Peerage of Ireland. This followed from his marriage to Emily, who was descended from King Charles II and was therefore a cousin of King George III.

His eldest surviving son, William, Marquess of Kildare, succeeded as 2nd Duke of Leinster, his third son, Lord Charles FitzGerald, was created Baron Lecale in the Peerage of Ireland in 1800, and his fifth son was the Irish revolutionary Lord Edward FitzGerald.

Leinster died aged 51 at Leinster House in Dublin, and was buried in the city's Christ Church Cathedral.


Jane, Countess of Harrington: 1775


Jane, Countess of Harrington: 1778


John Burgoyne: 1766

This portrait was commissioned by Burgoyne's friend, Frederick Count Schaumburg-Lippe, to celebrate their friendship and success during a recent military campaign in Portugal. Burgoyne towers above a battlefield filled with massed ranks of cavalry and infantrymen. In the distance is the skyline of a town, presumably Valencia d'Alcantara which his troops had dramatically captured in 1762.

Burgoyne was known as 'Gentleman Johnny' for his good manners and affability. Appropriately, Reynolds has fused the pictorial languages of aristocratic poise and military command.


John Charles


Excellence is never granted to man, but as the reward of labor. It argues, indeed, no small strength of mind to persevere in the habits of industry, without the pleasure of perceiving those advantages which, like the hands of a clock, whilst they make hourly approaches to their point, yet proceed so slowly as to escape observation. ~ SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS


John Hayes St Leger: 1778

In 1778, Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a full-length portrait of a young British officer. The painting is entitled "Captain John Hayes St. Leger" (listed in some sources as "Colonel St. Leger"). According to Worthington Chauncy Ford's, British Officers Serving in the American Revolution, 1774-1783, John St. Leger was appointed Captain to the 55th Regiment on September 24th of 1778. * If the portrait by Reynolds was done to commemorate the Captaincy of St. Leger, then this painting may depict an officer of the 55th regiment of foot in the late 18th-century.


John Manners, Marquess of Granby: 1763-65

John Manners was an unlikely hero. As a young man Granby made his mark as an enthusiastic huntsman, race enthusiast and gambler. King George II denounced him as 'a sot, a bully, that does nothing but drink and quarrel'.

If Granby played hard, he worked hard too. He showed himself to be an able and frequently victorious commander and he was never afraid to lead by example from the front. The cavalry charge which he led against the French at the Battle of Warburg on 31 July 1760 caused his hat and wig to blow off, giving rise to the expression '... to go at [something] bald-headed'.

But Granby had a reputation for looking after his men, and the public idolized him for this common touch as much as for his personal bravery. Engravings of this painting showing Granby giving alms to a sick soldier sold hand over fist, but perhaps the most enduring testament to his popularity is the number of pubs opened by retired soldiers that were and still are named after him.


In portraits, the grace and, we may add, the likeness consists more in taking the general air than in observing the exact similitude of every feature. ~ SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS


John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore: 1765

The Earl of Dunmore wears the Highland dress of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards. After the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-6, Highland clothing was restricted to those serving in Scottish military regiments.

The blasted tree-trunk shows signs of natural regeneration: the leaves and the flowers emerging from the old tree. This imagery suggested that the Highlands, brutalized during the terrible repression of 1746-7, were now being restored to order by a new generation of Scottish noblemen loyal to the crown - like Murray himself.


John Parker and His Sister Theresa: 1779


John Russel, 4th Duke of Bedford: 1759-62


Style in painting is the same as in writing,--a power over materials, whether words or colors, by which conceptions or sentiments are conveyed. ~ SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS


Justice: 1780

Values or Ethics?

Indeed, do any values represent a correct standard, or are values of themselves relative?

To address issues in terms of values makes it difficult, if not impossible, for generations to be drawn together on common ground.

We are shaped to a large extent by our cultural setting, and its values imprint themselves on our minds in ways most of us hardly notice. Music, movies and television all carry value-laden messages that bombard us daily. Over time these messages can subtly develop within us a new worldview. These cultural values become accepted as more mature than previous values, especially by the young, and govern how we see the world. The result, inevitably it seems, is a generational divide.

Expressing nostalgia for the values of days gone by is common to an older generation. We hear and read about the need to return to values of previous times without, in many cases, any clear definition of what those values might be. In reaction to change, older people often simply declare that things used to be better.

But is it really a question of whose values are correct? Indeed, do any values represent a correct standard, or are values of themselves relative? If so, should we accept that they can and will differ from one generation to the next?

The nature of the generational differences is in the way we view values themselves. The word value can have a broad range of meaning; in a cultural sense it refers to a principle, standard or quality. A desire to return to past values generally means a return to principles and standards held by society at large in previous decades. However, another meaning of value that needs to be considered is "the desirability or worth of a thing." If this meaning is applied to cultural values, then we introduce a moving target, because such a definition implies variation over time.

The perceived value of something differs from person to person and may reasonably change. For example, do we really want to return to the days of men wearing three-piece suits to baseball games? Would it be better if women still wore girdles and white gloves when they left the house? It would be ludicrous to think in these terms to find solutions to generational differences today. But here is the catch: While certain values cannot be replicated today, the principles, standards and qualities they reflect may well be desirable and downright helpful to a younger generation. How can we improve our principles and standards without all the baggage that can come with trying to recapture the values of a previous time?

Author Jeremy Rifkin describes the problem in his book The Age of Access: "The world . . . has become a human construct. . . . This new world is not objective but rather contingent, not made up of truths, but rather options and scenarios. Reality, it seems, is not something bequeathed to us but rather something we create. . . ."

James Davison Hunter says it quite plainly in his book The Death of Character: "Values are truths that have been deprived of their commanding character."

To address issues in terms of values makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the generations to be drawn together on common ground. Successive generations have created their own values as cultural influences have progressively emphasized the importance of self.

Perhaps a change of focus would be helpful. Instead of addressing values, which are relative, why not think in terms of ethics? Ethics refers to principles of right and wrong, especially in relation to specific moral choices that affect others. Right and wrong become anchor points that keep us from being drawn in by the relativity of values.

Of course, this necessitates some clear and indisputable definitions of right and wrong. The standard for moral choices in regard to relationships with others was written a long time ago.

Ethics based on principles provide a basis for defining right and wrong. From these, each generation can enjoy individual development and progress, but the commonality of these principles allows successive generations to share them as well.

How much happier would relationships be if we were prepared to question the evolving cultural values that have shaped us and to accept a common set of ethical standards? Ethics that transcend humanly devised morality benefit people of all ages simultaneously.

Nostalgia for days gone by might lessen if young and old could enjoy their differences because of shared underlying principles of right and wrong.

BRIAN ORCHARD


Kitty Fisher: 1763-64

Kitty Fisher, Catherine Maria ('Kitty') Fisher (died 1767) was one of the most renowned courtesans in London. She was known for her beauty, brave horsemanship and wit. In 1766 she married a John Norris, and became known for her charity. She died the next year as a result of poisoning by lead-based cosmetics. She was a model for several painters, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, Nathaniel Hone, Philip Mercier and James Northcote. Her name is known to us from childhood due to the nursery rhyme "Lucy Locket lost a pocket, Kitty Fisher found it…"


Kitty Fisher: 1757-59

Lucy Locket is an English nursery rhyme.

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it;
Not a penny was there in it,
Only ribbon 'round it.

The tune for Lucy Locket was later used as the basis for Yankee Doodle, a song which originated in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Lucy Locket was a barmaid at the Cock, in Fleet Street, London, sometime in the 1700's. Lucy discarded one of her lovers (her 'pocket') when she had run through all his money. Kitty Fisher, a noted courtesan, took up with him, even though he had no money. It also taunts Lucy Locket because a "pocket" was what prostitutes kept their money in and would tie to their thigh with a ribbon.


Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke: 1760

Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess de Grey

Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess de Grey and 5th Baroness Lucas was a political writer.

Born Amabel Yorke, she was the eldest of the two daughters of The Honorable Philip Yorke and his wife, Jemima Yorke, 2nd Marchioness Grey. When her father inherited the earldom of Hardwicke in 1764, she was entitled to the nominal prefix, Lady.

Amabel grew up in the political and intellectual atmosphere of her parents' homes at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, and Saint James's Square, Westminster. She was educated at home, and became an avid reader; her mother's friend, the scholar Catherine Talbot, said of her that, aged five, she "has no joy but in books, and of those will not read little idle stories such as were first given to her, but picks out for herself. Her knowledge in geography and English history is astonishing". Walpole later wrote that her sister, Mary, "behaved like a human creature, and not like her sister or a college-tutor".

On 16 July 1772, at Saint James's, Amabel married Alexander Hume-Campbell, Viscount Polwarth (1750-1781), the eldest surviving son of Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont, and his second wife, Elizabeth; it appears to have been a love match. Polwarth was interested in books but was a keen hunter too and also established a model farm on the Bedfordshire estate, to which Amabel was coheir. In 1776, he was created Baron Hume of Berwick. In 1777, his health began to fail, and after a long decline, he died on 9 March 1781. In her diary, kept from 1769 to 1827, Amabel mourned the loss of "the friend & protector I had hoped for". She then divided her time between Wrest, London, and (from 1791) her villa on Putney Heath, with London usually accounting for about half the year. On the death of her mother in 1797, she inherited the family houses at Wrest and 4 St. James's Square, and the title Baroness Lucas. In 1816, she was created Countess de Grey, of Wrest, in the County of Bedford, with a special remainder, failing heirs male of her body, to her sister and the heirs male of her body.

The countess's diary and her correspondence reveal an intense interest in politics. It was a matter of lifelong frustration that, being a woman, she could not be elected to the Commons or, later, take her place in the House of Lords. She told her mother on 21 November 1775 that if she were in Parliament, she would certainly have voted for the Rockingham party's amendments to the Militia Bill, and in 1811, she wrote:

"I can only flutter & beat against the wires of my large gilded cage in Saint James Square while I embody in my reveries an imaginary Marquis de Grey speaking in Parliament. But alas! When I wake from my day-dreams, I find out that my poor Marquis (with my soul in a manly form) would probably have had a bullet in the thorax...long ago for the vehemence of his speeches."

She described herself as "an old English Whig" and her views were dominated by a desire not to upset the status quo. She noted that "most Reformers, though their cause may be good, yet are dangerous from their rash & impracticable notions".

In 1792, Amabel wrote An Historical Sketch of the French Revolution from its Commencement to the Year 1792 and had it anonymously published by John Debrett. In 1796, she wrote An Historical Essay on the Ambition and Conquests of France, with some remarks on the French Revolution, published in 1797, also anonymously. Debrett also accepted a pamphlet she described as "an appeal to the People of Britain", and "desired that the unknown author would send any other work to him". No other crisis provoked her to write until the assassination of Spencer Perceval in 1812, when she discussed the possibility of a pamphlet directly with John Hatchard. She died on 4 March 1833 at Sain James's Square, aged 81, and was buried at the de Grey Mausoleum in Flitton, Bedfordshire. She was succeeded in her titles and estates by her nephew Thomas Philip Weddell.


Lady Anne Bingham: 1785-86


Lady Caroline Scott as Winter: 1776


Lady Charles Spencer: 1766


Those who, either from their own engagements and hurry of business, or from indolence, or from conceit and vanity, have neglected looking out of themselves, as far as my experience and observation reach, have from that time not only ceased to advance, and improve in their performances, but have gone backward. They may be compared to men who have lived upon their principal, till they are reduced to beggary, and left without resources. ~ SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS


Lady Cockburn and her three eldest Sons: 1773

As with many of Reynolds's group portraits the design is based on a composition taken from an historical source. In this case the painting is based on a 17th-century work, 'Charity' by Van Dyck; also in the Collection. It was brought to England from Antwerp in 1763, but Reynolds was probably inspired by an engraving after it. For the older boy he used the cupid from Velazquez's 'Toilet of Venus', also in the Collection, basing himself on a drawing. Reynolds also had several sittings with the children, all of whom were under three.


Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children: 1777-80

A daughter of the 4th Earl of Carlisle, Lady Betty, as she was known to her family and her children sat for Reynolds in April and June of 1777. The two years that elapsed before the completion of this majestic group portrait would have noticeably aged the children, but Reynolds worked from abstract principles of design rather than observation of nature. One of his conceptions for Grand Manner likenesses was: "Each person should have the expression which men of his rank generally exhibit."

Reynolds therefore suppressed psychological individuality to gain grandeur appropriate for these aristocrats. Lady Betty graciously deigns to accept our presence. As heir to his father's estate, John commandingly surveys the distance, and Isabella Elizabeth displays a coy shyness. Even the Skye terrier gazes upward with proper loyalty.

The figure group forms a pyramidal silhouette, and the beech trees accentuate a spatial wedge that recedes toward two vistas on the picture's sides. This stable, triangular configuration is reminiscent of Holy Families, sheltered beneath canopies, painted by Raphael and Poussin. The earthy color scheme of ochers and umbers recalls the sonorous tones employed by Titian and Rembrandt. Reynolds' ability to synthesize from so many sources astounded Thomas Gainsborough, who reportedly exclaimed, "Damn him, how various he is!"


Lady Elizabeth Foster: 1787

Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (formerly Elizabeth Christiana Hervey, later Lady Elizabeth Foster) is best known as the close friend of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who supplanted the Duchess in her husband's affections and later married him. Lady Elizabeth was the daughter of Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, and was familiarly known as "Bess". She was born in a small house in Horringer, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk, England. In 1776, she married Irishman John Thomas Foster (born 1747). He was a first cousin of the brothers John Foster, last Speaker of the (united) Irish House of Commons, and Bishop (William) Foster. When her father acceded to the earldom of Bristol until 1779, she became Lady Elizabeth Foster. The Fosters had three children; two sons, Frederick (3 October 1777 - 1853) and Augustus (December 1780 - 1848), and a daughter Elizabeth, who was born premature on 17 November 1778 and lived only 8 days. The couple lived (after 1779) with her parents at Ickworth House, the ancestral Bristol home. The marriage was not a success, and the couple separated within five years, after Foster had a relationship with a servant. Foster retained custody of their sons, and did not allow the boys to see Bess for 14 years. Fittingly, one her descendants, via her legitimate son Augustus, is US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. In May 1782, Bess met the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in Bath, and quickly became Georgiana's closest friend.

From this time, she lived in a menage a trois with Georgiana and her husband, William, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, for about twenty-five years. She bore two children by the Duke: a son, Augustus (later Augustus Clifford, 1st Baronet), and a daughter, Caroline St. Jules, who were raised at Devonshire House with the Duke's legitimate children by Georgiana. Lady Elizabeth finally married the Duke in 1809, three years after the death of his first wife, during which time she had continued to live in his household.

Bess is also said to have had affairs with several other men, including Ercole Cardinal Consalvi, John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, Count Axel von Fersen, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, and Valentine Richard Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven. There is some evidence that Quin fathered an illegitimate son by her, who became the noted physician, Frederick Hervey Foster Quin.

Bess also had literary pretensions, and was a friend of the French author Madame de Stael, with whom she corresponded from about 1804.


Lady Elizabeth Keppel: 1761

e\

Lady Elizabeth Keppel and a servant are shown arranging a garland around a statue of Hymen, the god of marriage. The picture commemorates Lady Elizabeth's role as bridesmaid at the wedding of George III and Queen Charlotte in 1761. The Latin inscription, from a celebrated classical marriage poem by Catullus, invokes Hymen's blessing on the happy couple.


Lady Henrietta Herbert: ca 1777

Powis Castle contains the portrait Lady Henrietta Antonia Herbert, Countess of Powys (1758 - 1830) painted in 1777 by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Lady Henrietta was daughter of Henry Arthur, first Earl of Powis and wife of Edward, second Lord Clive. The hat and the lace scarf which she wears in the portrait are not shown in the engraving of 1778 (hung nearby) and appear to have been added by another hand.


Lady in Pink said to be Mrs Elizabeth Sheridan

Portrait of a Lady in Pink by Reynolds said to be Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan. Reynolds also painted a picture of Saint Cecilia at her harp dated 1775 in which he was supposed to have used Mrs. Sheridan as the model.


Saint Cecillia: 1775


Lady Jane Halliday: 1779


Lady Mary Leslie: 1764


Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces: 1765

Lady Sarah Lennox (1745-1826) was the youngest and the most infamous of the four sisters. After the death of both parents, she was brought up by her elder sisters. In 1760, Sarah was introduced to court and caught the eye of the young King George III. Her family hoped to see her as queen, but the King's advisors dissuaded him from this marriage, on political grounds. Her sister Caroline was the wife of Henry Fox), a member of the politically radical Fox family. In 1762, Sarah was married off to Sir Charles Bunbury. Their marriage was not a happy one, and Sarah did not try to hide this, earning herself a negative reputation. In 1769, she eloped with Lord William Gordon, with whom she had been having an affair, and was ostracized by society as a result. Eventually she settled down with an impoverished army officer, George Napier. They were married in 1781, and had eight children, including Charles James Napier (1782-1853) British general, Commander-in-Chief in India.


Lady Skipwith: 1787


Lady Smith and Children: 1787

Charlotte, the daughter of Sir Francis Blake Delaval, married in 1776 Sir Robert Smith, Member of Parliament for Colchester. Their children are George Henry, Louisa, and Charlotte. Payments for this fashionable family portrait are recorded in March and May of 1787, and it was a popular exhibit at the Royal Academy the same year.


Lady Sunderlin: 1786

The portrait of Lady Sunderlin is the archetypal Grand Manner British portrait. She stands larger than life and very tall, seen against a Rubensian landscape.


Lady Taylor: 1781-84


Lady Worsley: 1776

Reynolds showed this portrait at the first exhibition in the Royal Academy's spectacular new home at Somerset House. It was clearly designed to make a strong impression. Lady Worsley wears a tight-fitting riding costume, adapted from the uniform of her husband's regiment. War with the American colonies had produced a new fashion for women to wear masculine-style clothes, particularly uniforms. Reynolds has responded by adapting the conventions of male portraiture.


Lear: 1760's


Little Rogue (Robinetta)


Lucy Lady Strange: 1755


Man in a Brown Coat: 1748


Mary Amelia, Countess of Salisbury: 1780-89


Mary, Duchess of Richmond: 1764-67


Master Hare

It is rare to see such a natural pose in a portrait, even of a child. It is marvelous how Reynolds encapsulates the innocence of this very young boy. His ringlets, his rosy cheeks, but above all the entirely free pose of his right arm conspire to create a lively and spontaneous figure. The almost ethereal background of trees and greenery only enhances the feelings of natural harmony, authenticity, and spontaneity.

Reynolds creates a perfect setting for this small boy, who looks beyond the frame at something in the distance that no one else can perceive. His white skin, his bright eyes, and his dynamic pose contrast with the somber colors of the background. In creating such a setting, Reynolds wished to demonstrate the primacy of a child's world that cares little for external matters. The subtle echoes between the child's blond hair, the bronze reflections on the tree behind him, and the material that forms the child's belt enliven the picture, thereby emphasizing the child's sweetness.


Miss Bowles: 1775


Miss Cocks and Her Niece: 1789


Miss Elizabeth Ingram: 1757

This work is very much a typical portrait of the day. The sitter is placed within a vaguely classical setting, the column to the left recalling the architectural, and by association, intellectual and moral authority of ancient Greece or Rome. Reynolds' handling of paint, especially in the dress, is however, exceptional and elevates the work above the average.

What makes this painting more interesting today is the manner in which it has aged. When painted, Miss Ingram would have had a healthy complexion. The use of unstable pink pigments has resulted in her current pale state. This gives the portrait a much more arresting quality than perhaps it had when it was new.


Miss Price: 1769-70


Miss Thorold: 1759


Mrs Abington: 1764-73

Mrs Abington was a prostitute, later an actress and a courtesan. This portrait is said to show Mrs Abington in the character of Miss Prue in William Congreve's comedy, Love for Love.


Mrs Abington: 1771

Mrs Abington had worked in a brothel before making her name on the stage and was, when Reynolds painted her, the mistress of a wealthy MP. She leans coquettishly over a fashionable chair-back, her thumb poised suggestively before her slightly parted lips: a vulgar, sexually charged gesture.


Mrs and Miss Macklin with Miss Potts: 1788


Mrs Baldwin: 1782

Nineteen-year-old Jane Baldwin, the wife of a wealthy merchant, was born in Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey) of British parents. She had no East European blood, but Mrs Baldwin made the most of her exotic background; she was known as the 'pretty Greek'. She wore this costume on special occasions in London, notably at a ball given by the king. She holds an ancient coin from her birthplace. The sensuality of her unusual cross-legged pose adds to her allure.


Mrs Crewe: 1760-61

Addressed to Mrs. Crewe, with the Comedy of the School for Scandal, By R. B. Sheridan, Esq.

TELL me, ye prim adepts in Scandal's school,
Who rail by precept, and detract by rule,
Lives there no character, so tried, so known,
So decked with grace, and so unlike your own,
That even you assist her fame to raise, (5)
Approve by envy, and by silence praise!
Attend!-a model shall attract your view-
Daughters of calumny, I summon you!
You shall decide if this a portrait prove,
Or fond creation of the Muse and Love. (10)
Attend, ye virgin critics, shrewd and sage,
Ye matron censors of this childish age,
Whose peering eye and wrinkled front declare
A fixed antipathy to young and fair;
By cunning, cautious; or by nature, cold, (15)
In maiden madness, virulently bold!-
Attend, ye skilled to coin the precious tale,
Creating proof, where innuendos fail!
Whose practised memories, cruelly exact,
Omit no circumstance, except the fact!- (20)
Attend, all ye who boast,-or old or young,-
The living libel of a slanderous tongue!
So shall my theme as far contrasted be,
As saints by fiends, or hymns by calumny.
Come, gentle Amoret (for 'neath that name (25)
In worthier verse is sung thy beauty's fame);
Come-for but thee who seeks the Muse? and while
Celestial blushes check thy conscious smile,
With timid grace, and hesitating eye,
The perfect model, which I boast, supply:- (30)
Vain Muse! couldst thou the humblest sketch create
Of her, or slightest charm couldst imitate-
Could thy blest strain in kindred colours trace
The faintest wonder of her form and face-
Poets would study the immortal line, (35)
And Reynolds own his art subdued by thine;
That art, which well might added lustre give
To Nature's best, and Heaven's superlative:
On Granby's cheek might bid new glories rise,
Or point a purer beam from Devon's eyes! (40)
Hard is the task to shape that beauty's praise,
Whose judgment scorns the homage flattery pays!
But praising Amoret we cannot err,
No tongue o'ervalues Heaven, or flatters her!
Yet she by Fate's perverseness-she alone (45)
Would doubt our truth, nor deem such praise her own.
Adorning fashion, unadorned by dress,
Simple from taste, and not from carelessness;
Discreet in gesture, in deportment mild,
Not stiff with prudence, nor uncouthly wild: (50)
No state has Amoret; no studied mien;
She frowns no goddess, and she moves no queen.
The softer charm that in her manner lies
Is framed to captivate, yet not surprise;
It justly suits the expression of her face,- (55)
'Tis less than dignity, and more than grace!
On her pure cheek the native hue is such,
That, formed by Heaven to be admired so much,
The hand divine, with a less partial care,
Might well have fixed a fainter crimson there, (60)
And bade the gentle inmate of her breast-
Inshrinèd Modesty-supply the rest.
But who the peril of her lips shall paint?
Strip them of smiles-still, still all words are faint.
But moving Love himself appears to teach (65)
Their action, though denied to rule her speech;
And thou who seest her speak, and dost not hear,
Mourn not her distant accents 'scape thine ear;
Viewing those lips, thou still may'st make pretence
To judge of what she says, and swear 'tis sense: (70)
Clothed with such grace, with such expression fraught,
They move in meaning, and they pause in thought!
But dost thou farther watch, with charmed surprise,
The mild irresolution of her eyes,
Curious to mark how frequent they repose, (75)
In brief eclipse and momentary close-
Ah! seest thou not an ambushed Cupid there,
Too timorous of his charge, with jealous care
Veils and unveils those beams of heavenly light,
Too full, too fatal else, for mortal sight? (80)
Nor yet, such pleasing vengeance fond to meet,
In pardoning dimples hope a safe retreat.
What though her peaceful breast should ne'er allow
Subduing frowns to arm her altered brow,
By Love, I swear, and by his gentle wiles, (85)
More fatal still the mercy of her smiles!
Thus lovely, thus adorned, possessing all
Of bright or fair that can to woman fall,
The height of vanity might well be thought
Prerogative in her, and Nature's fault. (90)
Yet gentle Amoret, in mind supreme
As well as charms, rejects the vainer theme;
And, half mistrustful of her beauty's store,
She barbs with wit those darts too keen before:-
Read in all knowledge that her sex should reach, (95)
Though, Greville, or the Muse, should deign to teach,
Fond to improve, nor timorous to discern
How far it is a woman's grace to learn;
In Millar's dialect she would not prove
Apollo's priestess, but Apollo's love, (100)
Graced by those signs which truth delights to own,
The timid blush, and mild submitted tone:
Whate'er she says, though sense appear throughout,
Displays the tender hue of female doubt;
Decked with that charm, how lovely wit appears, (105)
How graceful science, when that robe she wears!
Such too her talents, and her bent of mind,
As speak a sprightly heart by thought refined:
A taste for mirth, by contemplation schooled,
A turn for ridicule, by candour ruled, (110)
A scorn of folly, which she tries to hide;
An awe of talent, which she owns with pride!
Peace, idle Muse! no more thy strain prolong,
But yield a theme, thy warmest praises wrong;
Just to her merit, though thou canst not raise (115)
Thy feeble verse, behold th' acknowledged praise
Has spread conviction through the envious train,
And cast a fatal gloom o'er Scandal's reign!
And lo! each pallid hag, with blistered tongue,
Mutters assent to all thy zeal has sung- (120)
Owns all the colours just-the outline true;
Thee my inspirer, and my model-CREWE!


I am not sure that this has anything to do with Reynolds' painting of Mrs Crewe or not, but I like it so I've included it for what I hope is our mutual enjoyment. ~ Senex Magister


Mrs Francis Beckford: 1756

Among the most striking features of this portrait is Mrs. Beckford's lavish sacque dress (a la Francaise), of turquoise blue and silver watered silk, with matching silk trimmings on the bodice. The necklace, shoulder mantle and sleeve ruffles are of fine silk lace. Her jewelry includes clip-on earrings (called 'snaps'), probably made of paste, and on her wrists are two black silk bracelets mounted with portrait miniatures. Owing to the increasing pressure of business, Reynolds probably restricted his own contribution to the subject's pose and her head, leaving the detailed painting of her dress to a professional 'drapery' painter, or possibly to his young Italian studio assistant, Giuseppe Marchi.


Mrs Hugh Bonfoy: 1754


Mrs John Hale: 1762-64


Mrs John Musters: 1782

Tendencies to use the mobile brushwork of Baroque painting for narrative purpose were apparent in England. Reynolds put the sublimity of Antiquity into portraiture in an early stage. Sophia Heywood, or Mrs. Musters (1758-1819), was then renowned for her beauty, and she is depicted as Hebe, that is the handmaid of the gods, filling the bowl for Jupiter. Both her pose and the proportions recall Guido Reni's Aurora, while the colors are reminiscent of Guercino.


Mrs John Parker: 1770-72


Mrs Joseph Martin and Her Son: 1760


Mrs Richard Bennett Lloyd: 1775-76


Mrs Richard Crofts: 1775


Mrs Richard Hoare and Child: 1763

The foremost portrait painter in London and an influential teacher and theorist, Reynolds was the first president of the Royal Academy in England. This unfinished picture may be an abandoned first version of a full-length portrait now in the Wallace Collection, London. It reveals Reynolds's methods of constructing a painting. Beginning with a sketchy outline drawn with the brush, Reynolds blocked in broad areas of color, emphasizing subtle tonal values by choosing closely-related grays and whites.


Mrs Thomas Riddell: 1763


Mrs Turnour: 1756-57


Mrs William Molesworth: 1755


Nelly O'Brien: 1762-64

Nelly O'Brien (died 1768) was a courtesan, one of Reynolds favorite models. At the time of this famous portrait, she was the mistress of the 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke, to whose son she gave birth in 1764.


Omai (Omiah): 1776

'Omai' was a young Polynesian man who was brought to England from Tahiti in 1774. His British patrons, who included the scientist Joseph Banks, wanted to evaluate his responses to 'civilized' western society, but Omai quickly became a source of amusement. Omai himself hoped to gain British support against invaders who had taken over his native island, Raiatea. But when Captain Cook returned Omai to the South Sea Islands in 1776 he refused to take him to Raiatea, fearing bloodshed, and settled him on a neighboring island. He is said to have died there three years later.


Paul Henry Ourry: ca 1748


Peter Ludlow: 1755


Portrait of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke Of Dorset (1688-1765)

Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, PC was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the son of the 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex and the former Lady Mary Compton, younger daughter of the 3rd Earl of Northampton. Styled Lord Buckhurst from birth, he succeeded his father as 7th Earl of Dorset and 2nd Earl of Middlesex in 1706, and was created Duke of Dorset in 1720.


Portrait of Admiral Thomas Cotes: 1712-1767


Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton: 1737-1797

Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton (25 June 1737-21 March 1797) was a British statesman and soldier.

The second son of Lord Augustus Fitzroy and a grandson of the 2nd Duke of Grafton, Fitzroy joined the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards as an ensign in 1752. He fought at the Battles of Minden and Kirchdenkern during the Seven Years' War and rose to the ranks of Captain in 1756 and Lieutenant-Colonel in 1758.

On 27 July 1758, Fitzroy married Anne Warren, the daughter and co-heir of Admiral Sir Peter Warren and they later had seven children. He was a Groom of the Bedchamber from 1760-62 and Whig MP (later Tory from 1770-83 and thereafter a Whig again) for Oxford from 1759-61, for Bury St Edmunds from 1761-74 and for Thetford from 1774-80. On leaving the post of Queen Charlotte's Vice-Chamberlain in 1780 (a post he had held since 1768), he was created Baron Southampton on 17 October that year and was succeeded by his eldest son, George, upon his death in 1797.

His younger son, Sir Charles Fitzroy, was romantically linked to King George III's daughter Princess Amelia.


Charles Hamilton, 8th Earl of Haddington: 1753-1828


Portrait of Charles Turner, Sir William Lowther, Joseph Leeson and Monsieur Huet


George Townshend, Lord Ferrers: 1755-1811

4th Viscount Townshend,
1st Marquess Townshend
English Politician, Viceroy of Ireland
Political Caricaturist
British Field-Marshall (Canada)


Portrait of John Simpson of Bradley Hall Northumberland: 1710-1786


Portrait of Lord John Townshend

Lord John Townshend PC known as the Honorable John Townshend until 1787 was a British Whig Member of Parliament.

Townshend was the second son of Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, by his first wife Charlotte Compton, 15th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley. George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend, was his elder brother and Charles Townshend his uncle. He was elected to the House of Commons for Cambridge University in 1780, a seat he held until 1784, and later represented Westminster from 1788 to 1790 and Knaresborough from 1793 to 1818. In 1806 he was admitted to the Privy Council.

Townshend married Georgiana Anne, daughter of William Poyntz. Their elder son Charles Fox Townshend was the founder of the Eton Society but died young. Their younger son John became an Admiral in the Royal Navy and succeeded his first cousin in the marquessate in 1855. Townshend died in February 1833, aged 76. Lady Georgiana Anne died in 1851.


Lord Robert Spencer


Portrait of Maria Anne Fitzherbert: 1788

A woman of tact and discretion, Mrs Fitzherbert was one of the great beauties of her day. Although a Catholic and a widow she was persuaded to marry the Prince of Wales in a secret ceremony in 1785. The marriage was illegal. The Prince did not have the King's approval and the heir could not marry a Catholic without forfeiting the right to the throne. Mrs Fitzherbert was condemned to a life of deception as the Prince's 'mistress'. She patiently maintained this position for almost a decade after George's official marriage to Caroline of Brunswick in 1795.


Portrait of Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse: 1784

Reynolds's portrait immediately confirmed Mrs Siddons's status as the greatest tragic actor of her day. He presents her not merely in a theatrical role, but as the embodiment of Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. Behind her are figures representing terror and pity.

Her pose recalls the figure of prophet Isaiah from Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling, but Mrs Siddons insisted she had composed it spontaneously herself. This is one of three versions Reynolds made of the portrait.


Portrait of Mrs Stanhope


Portrait of Sir William Lowther, 3rd BT: 1727-1756


Portrait of the Artist Aged Seventeen
Joshua Reynolds


Portrait of the Hon Mrs William Beresford


Robert Ramsden: 1755


Robert Shafto: 1756

Robert Shafto (d.1780) (portrait by Reynolds), the eldest son of Robert Shafto of Benwell (d.1735) is NOT Bonny Bobby Shafto.


Scyacust Ukah: 1762

'Scyacust Ukah', or Ostenaco as he is now known, was the leader of a group of Cherokees who came to England on a diplomatic mission. The three-man delegation attracted intense interest during their stay in London, which culminated in an audience with George III.

Ostenaco wears around his neck a silver gorget, a military mark of rank given by the British to Native Americans they regarded as allies. He also wears a medal the British had awarded him after a recent peace treaty.


Self Portrait: 1747-49

Reynolds probably painted this self-portrait when he was about twenty-four, just before he set out for Italy. It is one of the most creative responses to the art of Rembrandt produced in eighteenth-century Europe.

At the same time it is a manifesto of the young artist's aims and ambitions. Reynolds is casting himself in the role of a man of vision, who uses the art of the past in order to look to the future.


Self Portrait: 1753-55


Self Portrait: 1775

In this portrait Reynolds draws our attention to his partial deafness, but also to his customary role in his social circle as a listener. He cups his hand to his ear, although in public he carried a large silver ear trumpet.

Reynolds is traditionally supposed to have become partially deaf due to a cold caught in the Vatican during his stay in Rome in the early 1750's. But deafness was also hereditary in his family.


Self Portrait: 1780

Reynolds probably painted this self-portrait to celebrate the move of the Royal Academy to prestigious new premises at Somerset House. It may have hung in the assembly room, alongside a portrait of the Academy's treasurer and architect of Somerset House, William Chambers.

Reynolds wears his doctoral cap and robes, and holds a scroll referring to his Discourses on Art. The bust of his artistic hero, Michelangelo, seems to nod in deference towards him.


Sir John Molesworth: 1754


Sir Joseph Banks: 1771-72

Bank's work as an explorer and botanist was among the most important in the eighteenth century. His principal claim to the continuing regard of posterity was the founding and stocking of Kew Gardens as the foremost botanical repository and research institution in the world. As early as 1766 he was collecting botanical specimens in Labrador and Newfoundland, bringing them back to the British Museum. In 1768 he traveled with Captain Cook on a botanical expedition to the South Seas, collecting hundreds of previously unknown plant specimens.

He served as president of the Royal Society for forty-two years. He also founded the Royal Institution of Great Britain with Rumford in 1799, naming Sir Humphry Davy as the first lecturer.


Sir Richard Worsley: 1775-75

In 1782, a scandal involving the wife of the Governor of the Isle of Wight and a local militia captain caused a sensation in London Society. Not only was this incident the subject of a barely suppressed satirical cartoon etching (below), but the trial itself caught the imagination of fashionable society, such that the transcript of the trial proceedings proved so popular, it reached seven printings in its first publication year.



The court case centered round Lady Worsley, the wife of Sir Richard Worsley, the Governor of the Isle of Wight. She had spent the night in a hotel with George Maurice Bisset, a captain in the Isle of Wight militia. But his defense had claimed that Worsley had encouraged this liaison and was a willing accomplice! Lady Worsley was an attractive woman, who had a reputation for flirtatious behavior and was known in fashionable society as somewhat loose with her affections.



Worsley's political career was badly damaged by the very public collapse of his marriage. On 20 September 1775 he had married Seymour Dorothy, the younger daughter and coheir of Sir John Fleming, first baronet (d. 1763), of Brompton Park, Middlesex, and his wife, Lady (Jane) Fleming (d. 1811), and had with her a son, Robert Edwin (who died young), and a daughter. Though the marriage brought Worsley over £70,000, the couple soon fell out. Lady Worsley's numerous affairs (twenty-seven lovers were rumored) became notorious. On 22 February 1782 Worsley brought an action for criminal conversation with his wife against George M. Bissett, an officer in the Hampshire militia and a neighbor on the island. The jury found for the plaintiff but, on the ground of Worsley's connivance, awarded him only 1s. damages, not the £20,000 claimed. He subsequently entered into articles of separation with his wife in 1788.


Thais: 1781

Emma, Lady Hamilton is best remembered as the mistress of Lord Nelson. She was born Amy Lyon in Neston, Cheshire, England, the daughter of a blacksmith, Henry Lyons, who died when she was two months old. She was brought up by her mother, formerly Mary Kidd, at Hawarden, with no formal education. She later changed her name to Emma Hart.

Details of Emma's early life are unclear, but at age 12 she was known to be working as a maid at the Hawarden home of Doctor Honoratus Leigh Thomas, a surgeon working in Chester. Although this employment provided an escape from abject poverty, she was sacked after just a few months, presumably for poor work. She headed for London. There she worked for the Budd family in Chatham Place, Blackfriars. There she met a maid called Jane Powell, who wanted to be an actress. Emma joined in with Jane's rehearsals for various tragic roles - Jane is known to have played parts in local theatres. Emma and Jane enjoyed city life, but their excursions into London's unsavory nightlife, and particularly their likely liaisons with young men, soon led Mrs Budd to sack the pair.

Emma went back to her mother, who was at this time living in comparative squalor near Oxford Street. Inspired by Jane's enthusiasm for the theatre, Emma started work at the Drury Lane theater in Covent Garden, as maid to various actresses, among them Mary Robinson (poet). However, this paid little, and she supplemented her income by working Drury Lane as a prostitute. She soon gained employment in a local tavern/brothel. It was here that she became a strip tease artiste, a performance that involved striking lewd poses for the viewers. This act she would later refine by removing the nudity and lewdness, and developing it into what would become her Attitudes.

At about this time, Emma also began to pose for the artists George Romney and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Many hundreds of works were painted of Emma, particularly by Romney. The Royal Academy had great difficulty in finding models, as the work was considered unbecoming. Emma therefore undertook such work under various pseudonyms, such as "Emma Potts", "Emily Potts", "Miss Emily", "Warren", "Bertie" and "Coventry". One of the most famous of these is "Thais", by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which hangs in the drawing room at Waddesdon Manor, in Buckinghamshire, England. It shows Emma as Thais, mistress of Alexander the Great, holding aloft a flaming torch and encouraging Alexander to burn down the Temple of Persepolis.


Thais calls upon Alexander the Great to burn Persepolis.


Thais was a famous Greek hetaera who lived during the time of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns.

Thals first came to the attention of history when, in 330 BC, Alexander the Great burned down the palace of Persepolis after a drinking party. Thais was present at the party and gave a speech which convinced Alexander to burn the palace. Cleitarchus claims that the destruction was a whim; Plutarch and Diodorus recount that it was intended as retribution for Xerxes' burning of the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens in 480 BC (the destroyed temple was replaced by the Parthenon of Athens).

"When the king (Alexander) had caught fire at their words, all leaped up from their couches and passed the word along to form a victory procession in honor of Dionysus. Promptly many torches were gathered. Female musicians were present at the banquet, so the king led them all out for the comus to the sound of voices and flutes and pipes, Thais the courtesan leading the whole performance. She was the first, after the king, to hurl her blazing torch into the palace. As the others all did the same, immediately the entire palace area was consumed, so great was the conflagration. It was remarkable that the impious act of Xerxes, king of the Persians, against the acropolis at Athens should have been repaid in kind after many years by one woman, a citizen of the land which had suffered it, and in sport."

~Diodorus of Sicily (XVII.72)


The Angerstein Children: 1783


All the gestures of children are graceful; the reign of distortion and unnatural attitudes commences with the introduction of the dancing master. ~Joshua Reynolds


The Archers Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney: 1769

Reynolds shows two aristocratic young men apparently taking part in a medieval or Renaissance hunt, in a composition deliberately echoing the example of the great Italian artist, Titian.

It became fashionable in the later eighteenth century for young aristocrats to identify with the romantic, virile figure of the archer. Reynolds conjures up an older, more chivalrous era; the pile of game emphasizes that they are not common 'foresters' but noblemen exploiting their aristocratic right to hunt.


The Calling of Samuel: ca 1776

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

Then the Lord said to Samuel, "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever." Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." He said, "Here I am." Eli said, "What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you." So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, "It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him."

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.


The Death of Dido: 1781

After piling a wooden effigy of her deceased husband in their matrimonial bed atop her own funeral pyre, Dido, the queen of Carthage, stabs herself with her lover Aeneas's sword. Virgil tells the story of her grief-stricken reaction to her abandonment by Aeneas, the hero of the Trojan War and future founder of Rome.

Had the false Trojan never touch'd my shore!"
Then kiss'd the couch; and, "Must I die," she said,
"And unreveng'd? 'T is doubly to be dead!
Yet ev'n this death with pleasure I receive:
On any terms, 't is better than to live.
These flames, from far, may the false Trojan view;
These boding omens his base flight pursue!"
She said, and struck; deep enter'd in her side
The piercing steel, with reeking purple dyed:
Clogg'd in the wound the cruel weapon stands;
The spouting blood came streaming on her hands.
Her sad attendants saw the deadly stroke,
And with loud cries the sounding palace shook.
Distracted, from the fatal sight they fled,
And thro' the town the dismal rumor spread.
First from the frighted court the yell began;
Redoubled, thence from house to house it ran:
The groans of men, with shrieks, laments, and cries
Of mixing women, mount the vaulted skies.
Not less the clamor, than if- ancient Tyre,
Or the new Carthage, set by foes on fire-
The rolling ruin, with their lov'd abodes,
Involv'd the blazing temples of their gods.
Her sister hears; and, furious with despair,
She beats her breast, and rends her yellow hair,
And, calling on Eliza's name aloud,
Runs breathless to the place, and breaks the crowd.
"Was all that pomp of woe for this prepar'd;
These fires, this fun'ral pile, these altars rear'd?
Was all this train of plots contriv'd," said she,
"All only to deceive unhappy me?
Which is the worst? Didst thou in death pretend
To scorn thy sister, or delude thy friend?
Thy summon'd sister, and thy friend, had come;
One sword had serv'd us both, one common tomb:
Was I to raise the pile, the pow'rs invoke,
Not to be present at the fatal stroke?
At once thou hast destroy'd thyself and me
, Thy town, thy senate, and thy colony!
Bring water; bathe the wound; while I in death
Lay close my lips to hers, and catch the flying breath."
This said, she mounts the pile with eager haste,
And in her arms the gasping queen embrac'd;
Her temples chaf'd; and her own garments tore,
To stanch the streaming blood, and cleanse the gore.
Thrice Dido tried to raise her drooping head,
And, fainting thrice, fell grov'ling on the bed;
Thrice op'd her heavy eyes, and sought the light,
But, having found it, sicken'd at the sight,
And clos'd her lids at last in endless night.
Then Juno, grieving that she should sustain
A death so ling'ring, and so full of pain,
Sent Iris down, to free her from the strife
Of lab'ring nature, and dissolve her life.
For since she died, not doom'd by Heav'n's decree,
Or her own crime, but human casualty,
And rage of love, that plung'd her in despair,
The Sisters had not cut the topmost hair,
Which Proserpine and they can only know;
Nor made her sacred to the shades below.
Downward the various goddess took her flight,
And drew a thousand colors from the light;
Then stood above the dying lover's head,
And said: "I thus devote thee to the dead.
This off'ring to th' infernal gods I bear."
Thus while she spoke, she cut the fatal hair:
The struggling soul was loos'd, and life dissolv'd in air.


The Eliot Family: ca 1746


The Eliot Family (Detail): ca 1746


The Infant Academy: 1782


The Infant Hercules Strangling Serpents in His Cradel: ca 1786-88


The Ladies Waldegrave: 1780-81

This portrait of the three Waldegrave sisters was painted for their great uncle, Horace Walpole, to hang in his celebrated house in Strawberry Hill.

The sisters, all of whom were to marry in the following years, were single when the painting was commissioned. Their portrait, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1781, would have advertised their eligibility and desirability. Individually and collectively, the Waldegrave sisters embody contemporary ideals of feminine accomplishment, style, and beauty.


The Marlborough Family: 1777-78

Family of the 4th Duke of Marlborough

George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough was a British nobleman. Born the son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, he was known as Marquess of Blandford until succeeding his father in 1758. His siblings were Charles, Diana, and Elizabeth. He was educated at Eton, and in 1755 entered the Coldstream Guards as an Ensign, becoming a Captain with the 20th Regiment of Foot in the following year.

After inheriting the dukedom, Marlborough took his seat in the House of Lords in 1760, becoming Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire in that same year. The following year, he bore the scepter with the cross at the coronation of George III. In 1762, he was made Lord Chamberlain as well as a Privy Counselor, and after a year succeeded this appointment as Lord Privy Seal. An amateur astronomer, he built a private observatory at his residence, Blenheim Palace. He kept up a lively scientific correspondence with Hans Count von Bruhl, another aristocratic dilettante in astronomy.

The Duke was made a Knight of the Garter in 1768, and was elected to the Royal Society in 1786. He married Lady Caroline Russell, daughter of John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, in 1762, by whom he had seven children:

Lady Caroline Spencer (1763-1813), married the 2nd Viscount Clifden and had issue, incl. George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover.

Lady Elizabeth Spencer (d. 1812), married her cousin John Spencer (a grandson of the 3rd Duke of Marlborough) and had issue.

Lady Charlotte Spencer (d. 1802), married Rev. Edward Nares and had issue. George Spencer, Marquess of Blandford (1766-1840)

Lord Henry John Spencer (1770-1795)

Lady Anne Spencer (1773-1865), married the future 6th Earl of Shaftesbury and had issue.

Lady Amelia Sophia Spencer (d. 1829), married Henry Pytches Boyce.

Lord Francis Almeric Spencer (1779-1845)

He died at Blenheim Palace aged 78, and was buried there.

George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough, painted by George Romney


Theresa Parker: 1787


Thomas and Martha Neate with Tutor: 1748

The Neate family believed that "the father of the two children was a friend of the young artist, and a diary once in the possession of Miss Eleanor Neate recorded a payment to Reynolds for a portrait, but the sum mentioned was thought too small to apply to this portrait group. An old label on the back of the picture . . . says: Boy the paternal grandfather of the Rev. A. Neate. / Girl sister of the above married - Williams of -, Esqre / Tall figure Needham tutor of the Boy. / Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds." The label has not been preserved.


Thomas Conolly: 1762-64


Ugolino and His Children: 1770's

And I,
Already going blind, groped over my brood
Calling to them, though I had watched them die,
For two long days. And then the hunger had more
Power than even sorrow over me

Father our pain', they said,
'Will lessen if you eat us you are the one
Who clothed us with this wretched flesh: we plead
For you to be the one who strips it away'


Venus: 1785

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, Venus - a very ancient Latin divinity, in the II century BC she was assimilated into the legend of the Greek Aphrodite, who, by some versions, was born of sea. Aphrodite was a wife of Hephaestus, god of fire, but had many love affairs both with gods (Mars, Hermes and others) and mortals (Adonis and others), which resulted in the birth of several children; one of them was Eros (Cupid).


Venus Chiding Cupid: 1771

In this painting, Venus is shown with her son Cupid (also known as Eros) who embodied sensual, earthly love and a second child, presumably his brother and counterpart Anteros, who symbolized spiritual, virtuous love. Venus has taken Cupid's weapon, the dart, which he shoots at unsuspecting mortals to make them fall in love. This is punishment for the crime he has committed. He has neglected his duties as a spreader of love and has spent his time learning to do sums, seen on the sheet of accounts he holds.

Without his dart, Cupid is a sad, emasculated little figure; but the tone of the painting as a whole is light-hearted and witty. It is a new take on one of the most familiar mythological subjects in western art. There had been many images of Venus scolding Cupid and clipping his wings, or Eros having a tussle with his brother Anteros. The idea that Cupid's crime is an interest in money, however, is Reynolds's own. Reynolds may have been having a sly dig at the loveless lives of people who married for money, a common practice in the circles of high-spending young men who were the picture's anticipated audience. And it is possible he may even have been having a little fun at his own expense. The figures on Cupid's account sheet appear to be the prices Reynolds charged for various sizes of painting and frame. Could he be commenting upon his own status as a confirmed old bachelor whom love has passed by, as a result of his too-eager pursuit of professional success and with it, financial security?

Reynolds painted Venus subjects on numerous occasions. Indeed, this canvas is a later version of a painting he originally exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771, now in the collection of English Heritage at Kenwood House, Hampstead. The earlier painting was smaller and square in format. This may suggest that it was intended as part of a decorative scheme. The whole effect is lighter and brighter, with Venus's swirling drapery more prominent and the figures have a rather cramped feel. In the Lady Lever painting, there is more attention to contrasts of light and shade, more space around the figures, and a more pleasing treatment of Venus's right arm. One simple explanation might be that in making the second picture, Reynolds felt he could improve on the first one, making the subject more convincing and 'Old Master'-like. His handling of paint in this work is especially rich and textural.

Reynolds was obviously conscious of the dangers of his mythological pictures appearing to patrons and critics as dry exercises in theory. In order to make them marketable, he often chose subjects that, as here, had distinctly erotic overtones. Painting Venus was an accepted way for artists to portray the female nude, as generations of connoisseurs had long understood. Reynolds was appealing to this awareness even as he took care to treat the subject with humor and intellectual sophistication. Given that the depiction of Venus had been uncommon within traditional British art, it could be said that in works like this Reynolds was first and foremost persuading British patrons that they had now grown up to the level of their continental counterparts.


William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland: 1758

The Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (William Augustus was a younger son of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, and a military leader.

He was born in Leicester House, Leicester Fields (now Leicester Square), London, where his parents had moved after his grandfather, George I, was invited to take the British throne. His godparents included The King and The Queen in Prussia (his paternal aunt), but they apparently didn't appear, probably represented by proxies. On 27 July 1726, at only four-years-old, he was created Duke of Cumberland, Marquess of Berkhamstead in the County of Hertford, Earl of Kennington in the County of Surrey, Viscount of Trematon in the County of Cornwall, and Baron of the Isle of Alderney. The young prince was educated well (his tutor was his mother's favorite Andrew Fountaine), becoming his parents' favorite (so much so that his father would later consider ways of making him his heir in preference over his eldest brother, Frederick, Prince of Wales). At Hampton Court Palace, apartments were designed especially for him by William Kent.

From childhood, he showed physical courage and ability. He was intended, by the King and Queen, for the office of Lord High Admiral, and, in 1740, he sailed, as a volunteer, in the fleet under the command of Sir John Norris, but he quickly became dissatisfied with the Navy and, early in 1742, he began an Army career. In December 1742, he became a Major-General, and, the following year, he first saw active service in Persia. George II and the "martial boy" shared in the glory of the Battle of Dettingen (27 June 1743), and Cumberland, who was wounded in the action, was reported as a hero in Britain, thus founding his military popularity. After the battle he was made Lieutenant-General.

During the ten years of peace from 1748, Cumberland occupied himself chiefly with his duties as Captain-General, and the result of his work was clearly shown in the conduct of the army in the Seven Years' War. His unpopularity, which had steadily increased since Culloden, interfered greatly with his success in politics, and when the death of the Prince of Wales brought the latter's son, a minor, next in succession to the throne, the Duke was not able to secure for himself the contingent regency, which was vested in the Dowager Princess of Wales, who considered him an enemy.

In 1757, the Seven Years' War having broken out, Cumberland was placed at the head of a motley army of allies led by Great Britain to defend Hanover. At the Battle of Hastenbeck, near Hamelin, on 26 July 1757, he was defeated by the superior forces of d'Estrees. In September of the same year, his defeat had almost become disgrace. Driven from point to point, and at last hemmed in by the French, under Richelieu, he capitulated at Zeven monastery, on 8 September 1757, agreeing to evacuate Hanover. He played a major role as second-in-command to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick later in the war.

His disgrace was completed on his return to England by the refusal of his father, George II, to be bound by the terms of the Duke's agreement. In chagrin and disappointment, he retired into private life, having formally resigned the public offices he held. In his retirement, he made no attempt to justify his conduct, applying in his own case the discipline he had enforced in others. For a few years, he lived quietly at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor and subsequently in London, taking but little part in politics. He did much, however, to displace the Bute ministry and that of Grenville, and endeavored to restore Pitt to office. Public opinion had now set in his favor, and he became almost as popular as he had been in his youth. After the accession of his nephew, George III, he vied with his sister-in-law, the Dowager Princess of Wales, for the role of regent in times of emergency. Shortly before his death, the Duke was requested to open negotiations with Pitt for a return to power. This was, however, unsuccessful.

The Duke passed away suddenly on Upper Grosvenor Street in London, on October 31, 1765 apparently from a myocardial infarction brought on by his life-long obesity, at the age of 44. He is currently buried beneath the floor of the nave of the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.


William Brummell and George Bryan Brummell: 1781-82


William James: 1759


Young Woman Leaning on a Ledge: 1760


Source: Art Renewal Center

Source: Web Gallery of Art


This page is the work of Senex Magister

Return to Pagina Artis

Return to Bruce and Bobbie's Main Page.