THE 
 
 LITERARY WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, 
 
 A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR; 
 
 WITH REMARKS ON HIS PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER, 
 
 ILLUSTRATIVE 0» 
 
 HIS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 
 
 BY HENRY WILLIAM BEECHEY. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 jHeto axils Improbetr ISlritton. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 1852. 
 
TO 
 
 THE PRESIDENT, 
 
 AND OTHER MEMBERS, 
 OP 
 
 THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 If the work which I have ventured to dedicate 
 to the members of the Royal Academy had no other 
 claim to your patronage and encouragement than 
 the merit displayed by its author, I should not 
 have considered it sufficiently entitled to the dis- 
 tinction which I have aspired to. But a work 
 which professes to treat chiefly on Art may 
 not be unacceptable to artists ; and the Life of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds may be dedicated, with some 
 appearance of propriety, to those who hold the 
 first rank in that school of Art which has been 
 founded on his practice and his principles. 
 a 2 
 
iv 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 It appeared to me, that former Lives of Sir 
 Joshua were not well adapted to the use of stu- 
 dents; and, in availing myself of the materials 
 which other writers have afforded me, I have en- 
 deavoured to give a more artist-like character 
 to that which I submit to your inspection, and 
 have added new matter connected with painting, 
 whenever an opportunity of introducing it pre- 
 sented itself. 
 
 Had I been able to confine myself more exclu- 
 sively to the subject of art, I should, perhaps, have 
 succeeded better in giving to my work the cha- 
 racter which I intended it to assume ; but the in- 
 cidents of Reynolds's life, connected as they are 
 with the biography of other celebrated characters 
 of his time, and interesting as they have hitherto 
 been considered, as forming part of the history of 
 an individual with whom all that is in any way 
 associated is matter of comparative importance, 
 must always have a claim to notoriety as objects 
 of public inquiry and solicitude ; and I should not 
 have been justified in omitting them, could I even 
 have persuaded myself to do so. 
 
 The compilation of the work from the most au- 
 thentic sources, has cost me some time and some 
 labour, and the student will find in its pages the 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 V 
 
 concentrated matter of several publications. In 
 what I have added on the subject of Art, I have 
 been guided, to the best of my judgment, by the 
 principles which Sir Joshua himself has adopted, 
 and which he has so ably discussed in his Lectures, 
 and so forcibly exemplified in the works of his 
 pencil. I have ventured to hope that the Memoir, 
 as a whole, will not be found uninteresting to the 
 public in general, and I trust that by students in 
 painting, for whom it is, perhaps, most adapted, it 
 will not be read without some advantage. Should 
 I prove to have failed in the execution of my 
 work, 1 have still a consolation in reserve ; for I 
 am confident that the members of the Royal 
 Academy, who have ever been foremost in the 
 promotion of art, and in the encouragement of 
 those who have laboured in its cause, will ap- 
 preciate the motive by which I have been ac- 
 tuated, and will not feel disposed to judge with 
 severity, whatever be the merit or defects of this 
 performance. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Gentlemen, 
 With great esteem and respect, 
 
 Your most obedient and humble Servant 
 
 HENRY W. BEECHEY. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Memoir of Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 The advantages proceeding from the institution of a Royal 
 Academy. — Hints offered to the consideration of the 
 Professors and visiters. — That an implicit obedience to 
 the rules of Art be exacted from the young students.— 
 That a premature disposition to a masterly dexterity be 
 repressed. — That diligence be constantly recommended, 
 and (that it may be effectual) directed to its proper object. 305 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 The course and order of study.— The different stages of Art. 
 
 Much copying discountenanced. — The Artist at all times 
 
 and in all places should be employed in laying up materials 
 for the exercise of his Art 314 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 The great leading principles of the grand style.— Of beauty. 
 — The genuine habits of nature to be distinguished from 
 those of fashion 329 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 General ideas the presiding principle which regulates every 
 part of Art; Invention, Expression, Colouring, and Dra- 
 pery. — Two distinct styles in history-painting ; the grand 
 and the ornamental. — The schools in which each is to be 
 found. — The composite style. — The style formed on 
 local customs and habits, or a partial view of nature. . . . 344 
 
 Page 
 1 
 
 31 
 
vm 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 Page 
 
 Circumspection required in endeavouring to unite contrary 
 excellencies. — The expression of a mixed passion not to be 
 attempted. — Examples of those who excelled in the great 
 style. — Raffaelle, Michel Angelo, those two extraordi- 
 nary men compared with each other. — The characteristical 
 style. — Salvator Rosa mentioned as an example of that 
 style ; and opposed to Carlo Maratti. — Sketch of the cha- 
 racters of Poussin and Rubens. — These two Painters 
 entirely dissimilar, but consistent with themselves. — This 
 consistency required in all parts of the Art 364 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 Imitation. — Genius begins where rules end. — Invention : 
 acquired by being conversant with the inventions of others. 
 — The true method of imitating.— Borrowing, how far 
 allowable. — Something to be gathered from every school. 381 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 The reality of a standard of taste as well as of corporal 
 beauty. — Beside this immutable truth, there are secondary 
 truths, which are variable ; both requiring the attention of 
 the Artist, in proportion to their stability or their influence. 406 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 The principles of Art, whether Poetry or Painting, have their 
 foundation in the mind; such as novelty, variety, and 
 contrast; these in their excess become defects. — Sim- 
 plicity, its excess disagreeable. — Rules not to be always 
 observed in their literal sense ; sufficient to preserve the 
 spirit of the law. — Observations on the Prize Pictures. . 438 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cannot properly judge to what extent the arts of 
 
 this country are indebted to the labours of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, without turning our attention to the state 
 in which he found them at the period when he came 
 to their rescue ; and, if we estimate, at the same time, 
 the results of the labours of others, who had pre- 
 viously endeavoured to advance or to maintain the art 
 of painting in England, we may be led to consider 
 the nature of the means which they employed in 
 their professional pursuits, and the difference between 
 these and the means employed by Revnolds to for- 
 ward his own views of art. It will then be more 
 apparent why those who preceded him have not ef- 
 fected more than they have done; and why Sir Joshua 
 himself has been so eminently successful in accom- 
 plishing the object which he always contemplated, — 
 that of dignifying and extending the art of his coun- 
 try — and in establishing his brilliant reputation on a 
 basis which cannot be shaken. 
 
 The native artists who flourished before the time 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds, with any pretensions to 
 eminence, are but very few in number; and, till he 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 4, 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 appeared, Great Britain had been chiefly indebted to 
 foreigners for what it had witnessed of genuine art. 
 We can scarcely account for this humiliating circum- 
 stance on the grounds of any national incapacity 
 for painting peculiar to the artists of the soil ; and 
 this is not the age in which advantages or disad- 
 vantages of climate can be offered as reasons for 
 failure or success in any intellectual pursuit. Besides, 
 if natural causes may be supposed to have operated in 
 preventing the early growth of art in this country, it 
 is reasonable to infer, that the same causes would con- 
 tinue to operate in retarding its progress when it began 
 to display itself : but we do not see that any insur- 
 mountable objections interfere to impede the farther 
 progress of British art in its present advanced state, 
 and cannot understand, if such had ever existed, 
 why they did not contribute to stifle in their birth 
 the efforts which it has so successfully made. It is true 
 that, with regard to Historical Painting, and the higher 
 departments of Landscape, we have difficulties to con- 
 tend with which do not exist in the climates and local 
 peculiarities of Italy and other southern portions of 
 Europe ; but these can only be considered as partial 
 impediments, and do not, certainly, amount to •objec- 
 tions of vital importance : in Portrait- Painting we have 
 little beyond the disadvantages of a tasteless costume 
 to encounter ; and we have already been taught, by 
 the genius of Reynolds, that even these may be ren- 
 dered subservient to the fancy and contrivance of the 
 artist. We find, also, that, at times which may be 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 said to have been favourable to art, the costume of 
 Great Britain was rich and picturesque, and rather 
 afforded facilities than presented impediments to the 
 painter ; yet the portraits of the present day are far 
 superior to those of native artists at the periods 
 alluded to ; and art has made greater progress, under 
 manifest disadvantages of costume, than it did when 
 the national dress was advantageous. It was igno- 
 rance of the dignity and creative powers of art, and 
 not the want of proper objects to represent, or the 
 presence of any exclusively national disadvantages, 
 that made the works of our early British artists in- 
 ferior to those of modern times ; and it was the light 
 derived from intellectual sources, operating upon a 
 powerful and discriminating mind that first enabled 
 Reynolds to overcome greater difficulties of costume, 
 than had ever presented themselves to our ancestors, 
 and, ultimately, to attain a higher degree of excellence 
 in portrait-painting, than had ever been previously 
 reached. 
 
 The means of improvement that Sir Joshua took 
 advantage of, were not, however, afforded, with verv 
 few exceptions, to the painters of England who pre- 
 ceded him ; and we must also recollect that, if thev 
 had been afforded, British art was not prepared, till 
 after the reign of Charles I., to avail itself of any 
 such auxiliaries. The practical or executive part of 
 the art had not been sufficiently attained bv British 
 painters, to enable them to soar into the regions of 
 imagination, and look steadily to the great end of art, 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 unencumbered by mechanical difficulties. It was not 
 till after the study of the works of Vandyke, and other 
 masters of the Flemish school, as well as those of Lely 
 and Kneller, both of them foreign artists, had sup- 
 plied the deficiencies of early British art, and made the 
 painter acquainted with his tools, that our artists 
 were qualified- to receive impressions derived from 
 intellectual sources ; and it was, either because they 
 neglected to acquire such impressions, when the ex- 
 ecutive parts of the profession were attained, or, in 
 most cases, had not the means of access to the works 
 from which they might have been derived, that the art 
 may be said to have worn itself out in the hands of 
 the immediate predecessors of Reynolds. We may 
 fairly assume that the productions of this admirable 
 painter gave the first great stimulus to British art, and 
 showed to British artists the extent of their deficien- 
 cies, and the means by which they might be re- 
 medied ; but, if the sources from which he drank so 
 deeply of excellence be looked for in the soil which 
 was trodden by his early instructors, in the knowledge 
 which he gained of his art from any sources exclu- 
 sively Flemish or British, the search will be made 
 there in vain ; he had, indeed, acquired a bold and 
 decided style of painting, a firmness and freedom of 
 execution, and a certain taste of colour superior to 
 that of the artists who were his contemporaries, before 
 he left England to study in Italy ; but we may venture 
 to affirm, that, if he had never enjoyed the opportunities 
 of comparing the results of his early education with 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 the works of Italian genius^ he would never have at- 
 tained that high superiority, which is now so univer- 
 sally allowed to him, and would, probably, never have 
 carried portrait - painting farther than Hogarth or 
 Gainsborough have carried it. There was nothing ia 
 England to create that admirable taste, that fine per- 
 ception, of what is noble and beautiful in nature, which 
 enabled Sir Joshua Reynolds to raise the character of 
 British art, and to establish it on a solid foundation. 
 It was the study of those principles on which Raphael 
 and Michel Angelo had formed their comprehensive 
 and elevated views of nature, which first enabled Rev- 
 nolds to perceive his own deficiences, to appreciate the 
 value of intellectual art, and to employ it in dignifying 
 that of his country. 
 
 The application of what is emphatically termed 
 " the grand style of art," and often sarcastically 
 alluded to as such, to those departments of painting 
 which appear, on a superficial view, to have no con- 
 nection with elevated nature, has not been thought 
 practicable by many who have written and talked on 
 the subject ; but the works of Michel Angelo and 
 Raphael may be accessory in forming the style of a 
 portrait-painter, by leading him to consider the means 
 which those great men employed in raising the stand- 
 ard of nature to sublimity ; and Reynolds had the 
 tact to discover in what those means consisted, and 
 the power to apply them to the elevation of nature in 
 his own peculiar branch of the art. Of his ability to 
 employ them with equal success in the higher depart - 
 b 3 
 
G 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 raents of the profession, we have scarcely the means 
 of judging correctly ; for the disadvantages of his early 
 education, in which design was so obviously neglected 
 as to render it impossible for him, at any period of his 
 life, to draw the naked figure with anatomical precision, 
 would always operate to prevent his making frequent 
 attempts of such a nature ; and each of those which 
 he actually made has evidently cost him more trouble, 
 in contrivances to hide his want of drawing, than the 
 management of all the rest of his picture. The con- 
 sciousness of these disadvantages, and not the want of 
 natural powers, as it has been, we think, incautiously 
 asserted, may be fairly alleged as the principal reason 
 why Sir Joshua devoted himself more exclusively to 
 portraiture as the style of art for which he considered 
 that his previous education had most qualified him. 
 It was too late in life, when he returned from Italy, to 
 think of commencing an academic course of study ; 
 and, as the taste of the country was decidedly in favour 
 of portrait-painting, he judged wisely in taking the 
 path to fame which circumstances clearly pointed out 
 to him. We firmly believe, that, in doing so, he has 
 effected more for the arts of his country, than if he 
 had been enabled to attain the same degree of excel- 
 lence in historical painting that he actually reached in 
 his peculiar department, in which he may be said to 
 have formed a new style, superior to that of any artist 
 who preceded him; a style which, though founded 
 on the principles of other schools, may be said to be 
 exclusively his own, and was eminently qualified to 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 remedy the defects, and supply the deficiencies, of 
 British art in the miserable state in which he found it. 
 
 Many circumstances had conspired to prevent the 
 developement of British talent in painting and sculp- 
 ture, for centuries before the genius of Reynolds and 
 of Flaxman gave the stimulus which roused them into 
 action, and pointed out the true path to excellence. 
 The martial spirit which prevailed so exclusively at 
 early periods of our history, and the ruthless civil wars 
 by which the nation was frequently convulsed, had 
 greatly contributed to crush the rising efforts, and to 
 check the advancement of art. The little intercourse 
 enjoyed by this country with the Continent, where art 
 had long flourished, and was gradually improving, ma- 
 terially retarded" the formation of a national taste for 
 true excellence, and conspired to encourage the prevail- 
 ing tastes of different eras, in all their degradation or 
 extravagance ; while, in later times, the change in the 
 national religion most unfortunately exclude us from 
 the regions of art, at a period when the advantages 
 which might have been derived from them were much 
 greater than they had ever been before. 
 
 The change from Catholicism to the Protestant faith 
 — the greatest blessing, in other respects, which the 
 country has ever enjoyed — may be considered as the 
 most serious check that British art has hitherto re- 
 ceived. It brought with it, at its first introduction, so 
 decided a prejudice against the elegancies of life, that 
 painting and sculpture were either thought to be un- 
 necessary pursuits, or conscientiously discouraged, as 
 b 4 
 
8 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tending to encourage idolatry and superstition, and to 
 minister to passion and luxury. "When more enlight- 
 ened views of art and more extended notions of reli- 
 gious propriety had superseded the mistaken prejudices 
 of the early Reformers, and the fanaticism or hypocrisy 
 of the Puritans, greater latitude was given to the 
 national taste, and the liberal professions began to 
 assume their proper rank in the scale of intellectual 
 pursuits : but still the want of that encouragement, 
 which the Roman Catholic religion had given to the 
 higher departments of art, must have operated in re- 
 tarding the progress of British artists ; and, even in 
 the present day, the absence of such encouragement is 
 generally allowed to be a serious obstacle to the efforts 
 of our historical painters. 
 
 The period of our early history, in which art ap- 
 pears to have been most in request, was marked by 
 the introduction of foreign artists into England in 
 the reign of Henry III. : they were employed in 
 adorning the royal castle at "Winchester : and their 
 works are recorded to have been worthy of commend- 
 ation. Walpole has supposed them to have been his- 
 torical; but the art of this reign, like that of many 
 succeeding ones, was chiefly confined to the formal and 
 uncouth delineation of religious subjects ; and, what- 
 ever appearance it might occasionally assume, there 
 was little in it deserving of notice. The artist united 
 many other occupations, which may be considered as 
 purely mechanical, with that of painting, and occupied 
 a subordinate, or rather a servile, station in society, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 The value of his work was estimated by the costliness 
 of the materials employed in it, and the invention which 
 was necessary to its structure had but slender connection 
 with intellect.* 
 
 * Mr. Cunningham, in his " Lives of the British Painters," has 
 extracted the following curious passage from a book belonging 
 to the church of St. Mary at Bristol : it refers to a religious 
 pageant, which appears (says this lively and intelligent writer) 
 " to have been composed of very strange materials, and to have 
 been the united production of all the incorporations : — " 
 
 " Memorandum : That Master Cumings hath delivered, on 
 the 4th day of July, in the year of our Lord 14"0, to Mr. 
 Nicholas Bettes, Vicar of Radcliffe, Moses Couteryn, Philip 
 Bartholomew, and John Brown, procurators of Radcliffe, before- 
 said, a new sepulchre, well gilt, and cover thereto ; an image of 
 God Almighty, arising out of the said sepulchre, with all the ordi- 
 nance that longeth thereto ; that is to say — Item : A lath, made 
 of timber, and iron- work thereto. — Item : Thereto longeth 
 Heaven, made of timber and stained cloth. — Item : Hell, made 
 of timber and iron-work, with devils in number thirteen.— Item : 
 Four knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with thei-r weapons 
 in their hands ; that is to say, two axes and two spears. — Item : 
 Three pair of angels' wings ; four angels, made of timber, and 
 well painted. — Item : The Father, the crown and visage, the 
 ball, with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gold. — Item : The 
 Holy Ghost coming out of Heaven into the sepulchre. — Item : 
 Longeth to the angels four chevelers." 
 
 The manufacturer of this curious work of art must have united 
 the several occupations of carpenter, joiner, carver, gilder, and 
 painter ; and he was no doubt paid according to the number of 
 items, and the actual value of the materials employed in the con- 
 struction of the sepulchre. 
 
 The written instructions left by Henry VIII. for a monu- 
 ment to his own memory will serve equally to illustrate the state 
 of public taste in this country at a period when Italy was inspired 
 by the genius of Michel Angelo, of Raphael, and of Titian ; and 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The practice of illuminating missals, and other 
 works of public interest in literature, appears to have 
 contributed, in these barbarous ages, to promote tie 
 advancement of art; and its effects may be traced in 
 the difference of style, observable in the copies still 
 existing, of these memorials of Gothic labour and 
 magnificence : but the invention of printing consider- 
 ably diminished the number of these elegant tran- 
 scripts, and the practice fell gradually into disuse, till, 
 at length, it was wholly discontinued. The beauty of 
 these performances consisted chiefly in the brilliancy 
 and depth of their local colouring ; for there was little 
 attempt at gradation, in any of them, either of colour 
 or light and shade ; but the invention of the artist 
 must have been more or less called upon in these fre- 
 quent attempts at composition, and the art was pro- 
 portionably improved. 
 
 The introduction of tapestry, as an ornament of 
 furniture, may, however, be supposed to have mate- 
 rially contributed to extend the circulation, and to im- 
 prove the quality, of art ; it was in very general use 
 in the reign of Henry VIII. , and is thought to have 
 
 united within its narrow limits more artists of distinguished ability 
 than have ever since appeared in Europe. The instructions direct 
 that " the King shall appear on horseback, of the stature of a 
 goodly man ; while over him shall appear the image of God the 
 Father, holding the King's soul in his left hand, and his right 
 extended in the act of benediction." This work was to have 
 been executed in bronze, and was considerably advanced when 
 Elizabeth put a stop to its progress. It was afterwards sold by 
 the Puritan parliament for six hundred pounds. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 been partially introduced at earlier periods of our his- 
 tory. Works of such description were originally 
 copies from pictures of local interest or general cele- 
 brity ; but the subjects employed in this beautiful 
 species of ornament were subsequently invented by 
 artists of high reputation, expressly for the purpose of 
 being wrought into tapestry, and were executed from 
 drawings made either by themselves or their pupils. 
 The Cartoons of Raphael are well known to have been 
 designed for this object, and other painters of celebrity 
 have contributed to the amusement and instruction of 
 our ancestors, through the medium of this interesting 
 manufacture. Ladies of rank often employed them- 
 selves in working pieces of tapestry, and high prices 
 were paid for such as could be procured from artisans 
 who manufactured them for sale. Portrait painting 
 had also been occasionally practised from a very early 
 period of our history ; but till Holbein appeared, to 
 confirm the public taste for it, there was nothing of 
 interest in the examples of this species of art, beyond 
 that which the celebrity of the persons represented was 
 calculated to excite in the spectator. 
 
 In the latter part of the reign of Henry VII., 
 and during that of his tyrannical successor, the art of 
 painting rose to a height, in Italy, which has never 
 since been reached in any country ; and the influence 
 of genius extended itself far and wide over the whole 
 of civilised Europe. It was then that the matchless 
 powers of Correggio, of Leonardo da Vinci, Michel 
 Angelo and Raphael, of Titian, Giorgione, Tintoret, 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and Paul Veronese, conspired to astonish the world, 
 and to form a splendid galaxy of talent to chase away 
 the darkness of Gothicism from the regions of art for 
 ever. 
 
 There is reason to believe that, if the tenets of the 
 Roman Catholic religion had not ceased to be observed 
 in Great Britain at this interesting period, the # art of 
 painting would have made rapid strides under the in- 
 fluence of so powerful an impulse. The youthful 
 Henry was rich and munificent ; and, though he had 
 neither taste nor true love for the art, he was emulous 
 of rivalling the glory of those who could boast of having 
 genius in their train; and the introduction of Italian 
 art and artists into England would propably have 
 raised the British monarch to the enviable distinction 
 of sharing in the triumphs of Leo X., Charles V., and 
 Francis I. 
 
 But the Reformation came, and the brilliant pro- 
 spect vanished : art and literature bowed beneath the 
 chilling influence of Protestantism ; and the zeal for the 
 new religion displayed itself in the destruction of all 
 that contributed to adorn or to illustrate the preceding 
 one. The new Church looked with horror on every 
 thing stigmatised as popish, and works of art were 
 banished from its temples as idolatrous, and consigned 
 to the axe or the flames. 
 
 What was actually destroyed in this violent convul- 
 sion is not, perhaps, so much to be regretted, as the 
 consequences of that narrow - minded spirit which 
 urged the Reformers to wage a war of extermination 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13, 
 
 against talent and genius, and to include the noble 
 efforts of Italian art in the anathema pronounced 
 against the Romish religion; the torrent of prejudice 
 was too strong to be checked by the more liberal feel- 
 ing of rational discrimination: and England lost the 
 first and the greatest opportunity of improvement 
 which has ever been afforded to the arts of the 
 country. 
 
 We say, the greatest opportunity, because it is pro- 
 bable that Venetian art might, at that time, have been 
 naturalised in the soil, and its principles instilled into 
 English artists by those who could at the same time 
 have illustrated, by the progress of their works, those 
 important peculiarities of the school which still remain 
 subjects of conjecture, and are sought for through the 
 medium of imperfect experiments. The principles of 
 Roman art are sufficient for its elucidation; but no 
 theory can illustrate the process of Venetian colourists, 
 on which so much of the power and the brilliancy of 
 their pictures may be said to depend exclusively. A 
 great portion of the valuable life of Reynolds was 
 devoted to this particular object ; and the repeated ex- 
 periments which he made in the pursuit of it unassisted 
 by chemical knowledge, have been the cause of that 
 deplorable state in which many of his noble works at 
 present remain. His feeling appreciated the excel- 
 lence which he was uncertain how to obtain, and which 
 the progress of a single picture of Titian's, could he 
 but have witnessed it, would have enabled him to 
 secure. Much labour and time has been expended 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 i 
 
44 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the same pursuit by others, with less success than 
 crowned the labours of Reynolds; and much more 
 will still continue to be employed in it, while any thing 
 remains to be discovered, and while any true feeling 
 for art shall remain to appreciate the value of the 
 discovery.* 
 
 It must not be imagined that we have any intention 
 of detracting from the value of intellectual art, still 
 less that we think of placing the works of the Roman 
 school below those of the painters of Venice. That 
 species of art which requires the greatest mental exer- 
 tion, and the highest and most cultivated powers in the 
 artist, must always rank first in the scale : but the 
 noble productions of Michel Angelo and Raphael 
 afford sufficient comments on themselves, and he who 
 studies the principles on which they are painted, with 
 equal capacity of applying them, and equal advantages 
 of study, of patronage, and of encouragement, may 
 reasonably anticipate an equally successful result to 
 his attempts in historical painting. But the student of 
 Venetian art has no sufficient guide to direct him in 
 his researches ; the mysteries of colour lie deeply 
 hidden, and general principles will be of little more 
 avail than in preventing the painter from falling into 
 manifest error, and enabling him to be coldly correct. 
 A great part of the beauty of Venetian colour will be 
 
 * The style of Reynolds, as a colourist, may be said to have 
 been formed more exclusively upon that of Correggio than any 
 other ; but Venetian art presented to him a much wider range, 
 and he was never weary of indulging in the study of it. 
 
 I 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 found, as we have already observed, to depend upon 
 the process employed in producing it, and probablv, 
 also, upon the nature of the materials in use among 
 the artists alluded to; and although it is certain that 
 the knowledge required is not sufficient of itself to 
 make a colourist, yet, without it, the perfection of this 
 fascinating school will assuredly never be attained. 
 
 There are many who will tell us that the art would 
 gain little by the acquisition of these peculiarities, and 
 that other schools of painting have arrived at great 
 excellence without the arcana of Venice ; but Reynolds, 
 though no one could better appreciate the true value 
 of every style of art, was indefatigable in his search 
 after that of the Venetians, as possessing the highest 
 degree of excellence in colour ; and with those who are 
 inclined to dispute his authority we have no disposi- 
 tion to contend. It is evident that his feeling, ex- 
 quisite as it was, was unequal to the task which he 
 assigned himself; and we can neither persuade our- 
 selves that the feeling of others will do more, or that 
 he really employed himself so zealously on objects of 
 trifling importance. 
 
 At the same time, we freely confess that such re- 
 searches are not to be countenanced in youthful pro- 
 ficients in painting, who have much to learn before 
 they can be qualified to attempt the solution of a 
 mystery which Reynolds has failed to discover. In- 
 deed, Sir Joshua himself was so fearful of encouraging 
 students to venture on the sea of experiment, the 
 unavoidable element of those who study the works of 
 
1G 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Venetians, and so certain that no positive good 
 could result from the labours of those who embarked 
 upon it, without experience to guide them on their 
 way, that, by contrasting the allurements of colour 
 with the more important beauties of elevated cha- 
 racter and form, he showed at once the superiority of 
 works of intellect over those which he has classed as 
 " ornamental," and urged the youthful professor to 
 the study of the grand style of art in the perform- 
 ances of Michel Angelo and Raphael. In giving 
 this advice, he proved the correctness of his judg- 
 ment, and his ability to point out to the student the 
 surest and the highest path to excellence; the re- 
 finement of his feeling for colour was displayed in 
 the quiet researches of his painting-room. 
 
 England was not destined to enjoy the advantages 
 which might reasonably have been expected to result 
 from the introduction of Italian art and Italian artists 
 into the country, during the reign of Henry VIII. 
 Works of art had no charms for the early Reformers, 
 who busied themselves in destroying what Catholic 
 magnificence had accumulated, and systematically 
 neglected to supply the deficiency by encouraging 
 talent and genius among themselves. 
 
 Still the reign of Henry may be considered as 
 favourable to art. He laid the foundation of that 
 valuable collection of pictures, which was afterwards 
 so highly enriched by Charles I., and formed the 
 pride of that noble-minded but ill-fated monarch, 
 and the ornament of his palace at Whitehall. At 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 Henry's suggestion, Hans Holbein accompanied the 
 Earl of Arundel to England ; and the talent of that 
 eminent artist was employed "in perpetuating the 
 grace and loveliness of English beauties, and in con- 
 signing to posterity the features of those celebrated 
 personages whose talents and achievements added 
 lustre to the court and honour to the country foi 
 which they were exerted. The works of Holbein in 
 England were numerous; but few of them survived 
 the furious zeal of the early Reformers and the fa- 
 naticism and avarice of the Puritans. The original 
 drawings which he made of the distinguished per- 
 sonages of Henry's court are, however, still pre- 
 served in the royal collection, of which they form an 
 interesting portion ; they are executed in chalk, on 
 tinted paper, with little attempt at light and shadow, 
 and are characterised by a vigour and freedom of 
 execution which his pictures do not always possess. 
 The painter enjoyed a pension of two hundred florins 
 from the court, and continued to exercise his pro- 
 fession with indefatigable assiduity, till the plague 
 put an end to his career in 1554, twenty-two years 
 before the death of Titian, by the same disease. 
 Still it does not appear that native talent was excited 
 to display itself; and no British painter came forward 
 to share the fortune or to rival the merit of Holbein. 
 A better taste for the art had, however, been mani- 
 fested : our churches began to assume some appear- 
 ance of Catholic magnificence ; and the introduction 
 of the works of Italian genius would probably have 
 vol. i. c 
 
]§ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 given the stimulus which was wanting to English 
 artists, had it not heen so suddenly and so seriously 
 checked by the memorable change in the national 
 religion. 
 
 The effects of the mistaken zeal of the early Re- 
 formers continued to operate more or less upon 
 the taste of the nation, till, the reign of Charles I., 
 when the appearance of Rubens and Vandyke in 
 this country opened new prospects to British art.* 
 Charles was fond of art and literature, and took pride 
 in encouraging them: he soon amassed a fine col- 
 lection of the works of foreign artists, and extended 
 his patronage to native talent wherever it could be 
 found. The royal collection, as we have already 
 
 * Sir Antonio More flourished in this interval, and stood high 
 in the favour of Philip, who bestowed upon him a chain of gold 
 for his portrait of Queen Mary, and a pension of four hundred a 
 year as painter to the King. More followed Philip into Spain, 
 and lived there in much splendour, till the consideration in which 
 he was held by his royal master drew upon him the displeasure of 
 the Inquisition: he accordingly retired from the country, and 
 attached himself to the Duke of Alva, who caused him to be 
 appointed receiver of the revenue of West Flanders, a post so 
 lucrative, that he is said to have given up painting on obtaining it. 
 
 Towards the close of Elizabeth's reign, Hilliard and the elder 
 Oliver began to distinguish themselves. The works of the latter, 
 as well as those of the younger Oliver, who flourished in the suc- 
 ceeding reign, are miniatures, and possess considerable merit. 
 Under James appeared Mytens, a native of the Hague ; who was 
 much encouraged, and subsequently pensioned, by that monarch. 
 He was at first employed m portraiture ; but afterwards made 
 small copies of the works of the Italian masters, which he exe- 
 cuted with great ability. In the reign of Elizabeth, Frederigo 
 Zucchero was also much employed in England. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 stated, originated with Henry VIII. ; it appears to 
 have contained in his time one hundred and fifty 
 pieces, including miniatures; and, considering the 
 state of public taste at that period, the foreign wars 
 in which Henry engaged, and his contest with the 
 church of Rome, it must be owned that he did 
 much for the art. Charles I. added greatly to this 
 collection ; and we find that the contents of his noble 
 gallery at Whitehall, amounted to 460 pictures, from 
 the pencils of thirty-seven different artists. Among 
 these were eleven by Holbein, eleven by Correggio, 
 sixteen by Giulio Romano, ten by Mytens, seven by 
 Parmeggiano, nine by Raphael, seven by Rubens, 
 three by Rembrandt, seven by Tintoret, twenty-eight 
 by Titian, sixteen by Vandyke, four by Paul Veronese, 
 and two by Leonardo da Vinci. The gallery soon 
 became a place of general attraction, and the king 
 himself was oftener found there than in his private 
 apartments. The nobles were proud of imitating the 
 example of their monarch: and purchased largely, 
 wherever opportunities presented themselves. The 
 Duke of Buckingham persuaded Rubens to sell him 
 his own private collection, consisting of thirteen pic- 
 tures by the hand of that accomplished artist, of 
 nineteen by Titian, thirteen by Paul Veronese, seven- 
 teen by Tintoret, three by Leonardo da Vinci, and 
 three by Raphael. The king's brother, Prince Henry, 
 shared the taste of his royal kinsman ; and the Earl of 
 Arundel formed a noble collection of works of art, 
 consisting principally, however, of sculpture. Costly 
 c 2 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 presents, such as those which had heen offered by 
 foreign nations to Elizabeth and James, of which the 
 richness of the materials constituted the only value, 
 were no longer thought in character with the taste 
 of the English court, and the choicest works of art 
 were now substituted in lieu of them. The Cain 
 and Abel of John Di Bologna, and Titian's Venus del 
 Pardo, were presented by the King of Spain; and 
 other states sent presents of a similar nature. Charles 
 employed skilful painters to copy what he could not 
 purchase, and obtained the Cartoons of Raphael 
 through the interposition of Rubens, and the collection 
 of the Duke of Mantua, consisting of eighty-two pic- 
 tures, chiefly by Giulio Romano, Titian, and Correggio, 
 through the medium of the Duke of Buckingham. 
 He wrote a letter with his own hand, inviting Albano 
 to England, and though, it failed of success, yet the 
 merit of the attempt is due to him, and the wish 
 to improve English art by the introduction of foreign 
 artists into the country. Accident, however, effected 
 what kingly influence was unable to accomplish ; and 
 British talent must indeed have been inert, when the 
 genius of Rubens could not rouse it. This great 
 painter was despatched to the English monarch, os- 
 tensibly in his professional capacity, but charged, at 
 the same time, with a private mission from the court 
 of Spain ; he was welcomed with honour, and induced 
 to employ his vigorous and brilliant pencil in em- 
 bellishing the Banqueting-Room at Whitehall with 
 a representation of the apotheosis of King James ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. 2 i 
 
 which was not however painted on the spot, but sent 
 over in a finished state. Rubens staid, unfortunately, 
 but one year in England; yet his works were not 
 without their effect on the taste of the nation, though 
 they failed in calling forth the powers of British 
 artists. A second stimulus was given by the arrival 
 of Vandyke, with more success, yet without any pro- 
 portionate result ; and of this we had nearly been 
 deprived by a fortuitous concurrence of circumstances. 
 The reported liberality of the English monarch and 
 his court induced Vandyke to make a journev to 
 England : he arrived in London, in the year 1 632, in the 
 thirty-fourth year of his age, but found his reception so 
 little satisfactory that he returned, after a short stav, to 
 the Continent. The king was soon made acquainted 
 with the value of the prize which he had lost, and em- 
 ployed Sir Kenelm Digby, with success, to prevail 
 upon him to renew his visit. Vandyke was appointed 
 one of the royal painters, and soon gave sufficient 
 evidence of his abilities to establish his fame and his 
 fortune. He painted several splendid portraits of 
 Charles, and the lovely Henrietta still fives in his 
 works in all her native grace and dignity. The ex- 
 ertions of the artist were not without their reward ; 
 he was honoured with the distinction of knighthood, 
 and a pension of two hundred a year was assigned 
 him, — in those days, an ample allowance.* 
 
 * Scotland, at this period, produced an artist of considerable 
 merit, occasionally distinguished as the Scottish Vandyke. George 
 c 3 
 
22 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Of the immediate result of so powerful a stimulus 
 over the arts and the artists of England, we have not 
 at present the means of judging ; other matter than 
 that of art was in general agitation, and " a change 
 came o'er the spirit" of the time, as fatal to royalty 
 itself as to the progress which painting might have 
 made. Another general wreck of art ensued : and what 
 survived the unfeeling bigotry of the Puritans was made 
 subservient to the gratification of their avarice, and 
 disposed of, without reference to any thing but profit, 
 to supply their pretended or their actual necessities. 
 The royal galleries afforded ample scope for the indul- 
 gence of superstition and covetousness : and the 
 " war in the north" made an excellent pretence for 
 the ravages to which they were subjected. Art was 
 proclaimed to be profane or superfluous, and it was 
 accounted meritorious to despise whatever tended to 
 increase external dignity. The new government pro- 
 ceeded to sell by public auction the hereditary furni- 
 ture of the palaces, and to dispose of the contents of 
 
 Jameson was a native of Aberdeen, the son of an architect, and 
 ■went abroad to study under Rubens, at the time that Vandyke 
 was also his pupil. He returned to Scotland in 1628, and com- 
 menced his professional career at Edinburgh. He made some 
 successful attempts in landscape and history, but attached himself 
 eventually to portrait-painting, and acquired much fame in that 
 department. Many of his works are still to be found in the houses 
 of the Scottish nobility and gentry, and some in the college of his 
 native place. When Charles went to Scotland, in 1633, he sat to 
 Jameson for his portrait, and rewarded him with a diamond ring 
 from his own finger. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 4«* 
 
 the royal collections, of which a list was made out, 
 with imaginary prices, and the object named to which 
 the sums obtained from the sale were said to be ex- 
 clusively devoted. The journals of the House of 
 Commons of July 23, 1645, afford us the following 
 proclamation :— " Ordered ; that all such pictures and 
 statues there (York House is the place alluded to), as 
 are without any superstition, shall be forthwith sold 
 for the benefit of Ireland and the North. Ordered ; 
 that all such pictures there, as have the representation 
 of the Virgin Mary upon them shall be forthwith 
 burnt. Ordered ; that all such pictures there, as have 
 the representation of the second person in the Trinity 
 upon them shall be forthwith burnt." — " A worthy 
 contrast," says Walpole. "to Archbishop Laud, who 
 made a Star- Chamber business of a man who broke 
 some painted glass in the Cathedral at Salisbury." 
 It does not appear, however, that the order for the 
 dispersion and destruction of the royal collections was 
 immediately put in force, or ever, indeed, fully obeyed. 
 The sales fingered for six or eight years, and were re- 
 tarded by the unsettled state of the republican go- 
 vernment, and the intrigues of the politic Cromwell. 
 Even the order for the destruction of paintings repre- 
 senting the Virgin and the Saviour were very imper- 
 fectly fulfilled. The Puritans were satisfied with 
 having voted them superstitious; and, having piously 
 eased their consciences, did not scruple to fill their 
 coffers with the profits of such works as were allowed 
 to escape the flames, and to pass silently into the pos- 
 c 4 
 
24 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 session of private purchasers, whom they were, pro- 
 bably, unwilling to disoblige, and glad to place under 
 contribution. Cromwell felt, truly, that lustre is ne- 
 cessary to a court ; and, as soon as he became pos- 
 sessed of absolute power, put an end to all the sales of 
 the royal furniture and paintings:, but for many fine 
 works this order came too late ; they had been dis- 
 persed beyond racall. Some of the best were bought 
 by the king of Spain, and arrived at Madrid at the 
 same time with the ambassador of the exiled Charles ; 
 " a circumstance," observes the author of the elabo- 
 rate and entertaining work from which we extract 
 many of these details, " which puzzled sorely the 
 Spanish etiquette."* 
 
 It seems probable, after all, that very many of the 
 royal pictures still remained in England ; for when 
 Pepys visited the royal gallery, he declared that he 
 missed but few of his old favourites ; and we see by 
 the catalogue of James II. that the crown was in 
 his time possessed of many of its ancient paintings. 
 But the unfortunate fire at Whitehall completed what the 
 Puritans did imperfectly, and destroyed a vast number of 
 works of art. 
 
 Of the painters who flourished during the Common- 
 wealth, there is little of interest to be recorded.f 
 The Restoration brought forward Sir Peter Lely, 
 who had already distinguished himself under the go- 
 
 * Cunningham's Lives of the British Painters. 
 
 f Cooper may be said to be the only British painter of merit 
 at this period ; and his works are miniatures. He studied under 
 Vandyke. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 25 
 
 vernment of Cromwell, and introduced a style of art 
 in unison with the character of the court, and not 
 better calculated to elevate the taste than to improve 
 the moral feeling of the nation. Lely was a painter of 
 considerable talent, and many of his portraits very 
 justly rank high in the art ; but he was too decided a 
 mannerist to attain superior excellence ; and they who 
 took his works for models were more likely to imitate 
 his defects than to acquire a knowledge of his actual 
 merits. To Lely succeeded Sir Godfrey Kneller, with 
 less taste and imagination than his predecessor, and 
 with no higher qualities of any kind ; and here we 
 lose all traces of the little talent in painting, by which 
 England was distinguished, from the time of the 
 Commonwealth to the reign of George I. It will be 
 seen that, in the whole of the period which elapsed 
 between the reigns of Henry VIII. and that of 
 George, only two artists of superior ability appeared 
 amongst us, — for such were Rubens and Vandyke ; 
 and three of more than ordinary talent, — Holbein, 
 Lely, and Kneller. All these were of foreign ex- 
 traction, and had studied their art in other countries. 
 Their labours failed to excite British artists to emulate 
 them ; and, with the exception of the few which have 
 already been mentioned, there were no native artists, 
 during a space of two centuries, the period during which 
 art existed in the country, whose names deserved to 
 survive them.* 
 
 * Jameson, Hilliard, the two Olivers, and Cooper; perhaps 
 Dobson and Riley. Sir Antonio More was a native of Utrceht. 
 
26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Richardson and Sir James Thornhill were the two 
 most conspicuous native artists of the reign of 
 George I. ; and Hudson, the last on the list of 
 degradation, was the pride of his day under that 
 of George II. and the early part of the reign of 
 George III.* 
 
 The first native artist ot original genius who ap- 
 peared to grace the annals of British art was Hogarth 
 —the inimitahle Hogarth ; but why the pages of those 
 annals had so long remained undignified by any name 
 of similar note, must still remain a matter of specu- 
 lation. We have briefly alluded to the advantages 
 which different periods of our history presented to the 
 English painters ; and, if these have been much fewer 
 in number, and for the most part less calculated to 
 raise the character of art than the advantages en- 
 joyed by other nations, they must still be allowed to 
 have been fully sufficient to elicit more talent than we 
 find to have resulted from them, under all the impedi- 
 ments by which they were attended, and by which they 
 were so repeatedly checked. 
 
 With Hogarth flourished Reynolds, Gainsborough, 
 and Wilson ; names calculated to adorn the page of any 
 record of art, at any period in which art has flourished. 
 Thev will be venerated, while genius is thought worthy 
 respect, in every portion of the civilised world. But, 
 
 * Jervais— more conspicuous from the eulogy of Pope than 
 from his ability as an artist— was the competitor of Richardson, 
 but very inferior to him. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 27 
 
 if Hogarth, and Gainsborough, and "Wilson had been 
 the only great painters which England could boast of, 
 in what may be called the infancy of its genuine art, 
 that art would have never attained the perfection to 
 which it has at this time arrived. It was the genius 
 of Reynolds which matured it, and the influence of 
 that genius has not only been felt in the range of his 
 peculiar department ; it has extended itself to every 
 branch of the art, to the breast of every painter of 
 talent or feeling. 
 
 The knowledge which English artists had acquired 
 before the appearance of Reynolds may be said to 
 have been gained through the Flemish school, and in 
 the practical parts of the art they could scarcely have 
 had a better guide ; but their efforts had been confined 
 to individual representation, they had learnt how to 
 paint, but not how to think. They transferred the ob- 
 ject before tbem to the canvass by an almost mechani- 
 cal operation, and may be said to have painted the 
 body, without ' T reference to the soul, of the sitter. In 
 proportion as the intellectual parts of art are neglected, 
 the art itself must of necessity degenerate ; and he who 
 does not think of improving what he sees, will soon be 
 unable to come up to it. British artists had to learn how 
 nature might be elevated, and how to combine refined 
 taste and poetical feeling, with the executive parts of 
 the art. They could not be expected to infuse into 
 their pictures a feeling which they did not possess, or 
 which, if they possessed, they had at least never 
 thought of applying to the purposes of their profes- 
 
28 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sion, They may be said to have painted with no other 
 object than that of being paid for a copy of the features 
 and dress of the individuals represented on their can- 
 vasses ; and their sitters appeared to have no other idea 
 on the subject than that of going down to posterity in 
 the same wig and coat that they usually wore. The 
 fancy of Lely occasionally operated on those who ad- 
 mired his pictures ; and ladies sometimes chose, in 
 imitation of their ancestors, to be painted as nymphs or 
 as shepherdesses : but the change of dress was all that 
 occurred to them, and the painter himself thought his 
 portrait complete, when this part of his work was 
 effected, or, if he aimed at the sublime of the pastoral, 
 he added a dog or a sheep. 
 
 With such views of art, we cannot be surprised that 
 painting degenerated in the hands of English artists ; 
 and that Reynolds, who could scarcely have imbibed 
 any other in the early part of his brilliant career, 
 should have found, on comparing the results of his 
 labours with the works of Michel Angelo and Raphael 
 that it was necessary for him to "become as a little 
 child," and recommence his studies upon principles 
 with which he had been hitherto unacquainted. The 
 power of his mind was equal to the task, and his steady 
 perseverance enabled him at length to accomplish what 
 his fine perception of excellence had made him feel to 
 be necessary to his art, and eventually to raise the 
 character of the British school to the rank in which 
 he left it. His labours have not been without their 
 effect on the minds and the works of his successors ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 29 
 
 and the English school of painting may now be said to 
 stand as proudly pre-eminent among those of the other 
 parts of Europe, as it was previously obscure and 
 degraded. Let it not be forgotten that it is chiefly to 
 Reynolds that we are indebted for so important a 
 change; and when we look on the partial defects of 
 his works, let us view them as spots in the sun, which 
 are lost in the splendour of the light that his genius 
 has thrown far around us. 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OP 
 
 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 The children of 'genius have been often distin- 
 guished by remarkable eccentricities of character, and 
 some of them, indeed, have been so little qualified to 
 live in this world, as society is constituted, that na- 
 ture appears to have dropped them by mistake into a 
 sphere that was never intended for them. 
 
 At the same time, we have daily opportunities of 
 observing that aberration of mind and constitutional 
 or affected enthusiasm, habitual taciturnity, artfully 
 accompanied by a well-practised air of superior saga- 
 city, repulsive and unsocial habits, dictatorial manner, 
 contempt of propriety, and other peculiarities equally 
 frivolous, are often thought to be indicative of latent 
 talent in persons of very ordinary calibre ; while the 
 quiet unassuming demeanour of many, who are really 
 possessed of true genius, will occasionally be found to 
 throw a veil over qualities which entitle them to the 
 highest consideration. It may, consequently, be dif- 
 ficult, in seeking to form an estimate of character, 
 where no decided proofs of undoubted ability have 
 been given by which we might regulate our opinion, 
 to distinguish between the genuine effusions of genius, 
 
32 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 and the singularity of manner, or extravagance of con- 
 duct and sentiment, which may chance to be peculiar to 
 the individual of whom we wish to judge. But the 
 works of a man of talent will speak for themselves ; 
 and in these we cannot well be deceived. It is by his 
 works that posterity will judge him, and it is to them 
 that he should look for his fame, and the world for a 
 proper criterion of his abilities. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds had no real or affected pecu- 
 liarities, which distinguished him from the plain English 
 gentleman : he was subject to no fits of hysteric en- 
 thusiasm, asserted no undue pretensions, and thought 
 nothing beneath his consideration which the rank that 
 he held in society appeared to require at his hands. 
 The history of his life will afford but little scope to 
 those who look for romance as inseparable from ge- 
 nius, and think it unbecoming, in men of lofty minds, 
 to climb to fame by a path which might be trodden by 
 others. The course of Reynolds was not through the 
 whirlwind or the torrent ; no mystery attended his 
 advance to superior excellence ; it was planned on ob- 
 vious but well-digested principles, and conducted with 
 the steady perseverance of one who keeps his object 
 always in view, and is determined eventually to reach it. 
 His success in the art which he professed may be con- 
 sidered as the triumph of reason ; for it was chiefly 
 effected by observation and judgment ; and though 
 nature appears to have endowed him with an elegant 
 and discriminative mind, yet it is probable that even 
 for this he was greatly indebted to the habit of think- 
 ing with propriety, and of rejecting such ideas as he 
 considered to be inconsistent with a dignified and 
 comprehensive view of nature and things. 
 
 The records of art have not hitherto furnished us 
 with so striking an example of what it is possible to 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 33 
 
 efflect by a judicious use of other men's ideas, united 
 writh diligence and labour, as the history of the pro- 
 gress of Reynolds from the commencement to the 
 cliose of his professional career. It will be found to 
 affford a most instructive and encouraging lesson to the 
 jmvenile student in painting ; and may contribute, per- 
 luaps, even more than the study of his works, to illus- 
 trrate the means by which Sir Joshua employed to dignify 
 thie art of his country, and to raise the proud struc- 
 tuire on which he has based his well-merited claim to 
 irmmortality. 
 
 Joshua Reynolds was a native of Devonshire, and 
 wras born at Plympton, July 16, 1723.* He was 
 tlhe son of the Rev. Samuel Reynolds and Theophila 
 Plotter his wife, and was the tenth of eleven children, 
 fiwe of whom died in their infancy. t It appears that 
 
 * This county has produced many other painters of note. Hud- 
 son, Hayman, Cosway, Humphry, Northcote, Haydon, Prout, 
 Wfere natives of Devonshire ; and other names well known to the 
 piublic might be added to the list. It is, however, remarkable, 
 thiat the county which has been so prolific in artists, should have 
 atfforded, till very lately, fewer good collections of pictures than 
 amy other of equal dimensions in England. 
 
 + " His father had a notion," observes Malone, on the authority 
 of f Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, ' : that it might at some future 
 pteriod of life be an advantage to a child to bear an uncommon 
 Christian name ; which might recommend him to the attention and 
 kiindness of some person bearing the same name, who, if he should 
 htappen to have no natural object of his care, might be led even 
 frrom so slight a circumstance to become a benefactor. Hence our 
 aiuthor derived the scriptural name of Joshua, which, though not 
 veery uncommon, occurs less frequently than many others." But 
 ainother biographer has suggested, with more appearance of reason, 
 thhat it was probably given to him because an uncle, who was one 
 off his godfathers, bore the same name, and it frequently happens 
 thhat a child is christened after one of its sponsors. " It is certain," 
 otbserves Northcote, who had seen the statements in Reynolds's 
 htandwriting, " that Sir Joshua had an uncle whose Christian 
 mame was Joshua, and dwelt at Exeter, and who was his god- 
 fuither; but not heing present at the baptism of his nephew, waa 
 reepvesented by Mr. Aldwin." In the Register of Plympton, how- 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
34 
 
 MEMOIIl OF 
 
 he was on every side connected with the church ; for 
 both his father and grandfather were in holy orders, his 
 mother was the daughter of a clergyman, and his mater- 
 nal grandmother the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Baker, 
 an eminent mathematician noticed in the " Biographia 
 Britannica ;" his father's elder brother was also in the 
 church, and was a fellow of Eton College, and a canon 
 of St. Peter's, Exeter. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Reynolds is said to have been eminent 
 for his learning ; and united, with exemplary moral 
 character, great innocence of heart and simplicity of 
 manners : he appears to have been also a very absent 
 man, and remarkable for habitual taciturnity. His 
 mental powers, on Sir Joshua's authority, were con- 
 siderably weakened, notwithstanding his advantages 
 of education, from the circumstance of their not 
 having been sufficiently confined to some determinate 
 object ; and were wasted in acquiring a general kind 
 of knowledge, of little or no practical use to its pos- 
 sessor. The profits which he derived from the living 
 of Plympton, and from the grammar-school of that 
 place, which he conducted, were barely sufficient for 
 the maintenance of his remaining six children ; and 
 as he was but ill calculated for the management of 
 a school, the' number of his scholars gradually dimi- 
 nished till one only remained on the establishment. 
 This mortification appears to have been borne with 
 good temper, and without any dejection of spirits , 
 and he continued to enjoy the respect and esteem 
 which the variety of his talents and the goodness of 
 
 ever, we find the name entered as Joseph ; which inaccuracy we 
 may conclude, with Malone, to have been occasioned by its having 
 been written originally in an abbreviated form — Jos. son of 
 Samuel Reynolds — and at a subsequent period entered erroneously 
 by the clergyman or clerk of the parish 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 35 
 
 his disposition had obtained for him from his friends and 
 parishioners. 
 
 Young Reynolds is supposed to have been instructed 
 in the Classics by his father, who is said to have 
 been very assiduous in cultivating the minds of his 
 children : but the attainments of Sir Joshua, in later 
 years, do not seem to indicate that he profited much 
 from instruction of a classical nature ; and we mav 
 also conclude, that the mass of general knowledge 
 by which he is allowed to have been distinguished, 
 was chiefly acquired from long- continued intercourse 
 with the most celebrated literary characters of his 
 day, whom he loved to assemble around him. It has 
 been erroneously stated, that his father intended him 
 for the church ; but it appears, on the authority of his 
 own statement, that he was originally destined for the 
 study of medicine : and he is known to have declared, 
 at a more advanced period of life, that, if such had 
 been the event, " he should have felt the same de- 
 termination to become the most eminent physician, as 
 he then felt to be the first painter of his age and 
 country." It seems, indeed, to have been his constant 
 and decided opinion, that " the superiority attainable 
 in any pursuit whatever, does not originate in an 
 innate propensity of the mind for that pursuit in par- 
 ticular, but depends on the general strength of the 
 intellect, and on the intense and constant application 
 of that strength to a specific purpose." He regarded 
 ambition " as the cause of eminence, but accident as 
 pointing out the means." Whatever may be the truth 
 of these observations, they have certainly the authority 
 of Johnson in support of them ; and Reynolds himself 
 was not in the habit of thinking superficially on sub- 
 jects of any kind. But though it may be difficult to 
 point out the limits of genius, and to say what a great 
 d 2 
 
3G 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 mind, under favourable circumstances, will not be able 
 to effect for itself ; yet, in granting that Reynolds 
 might have made a good physician, a sound divine, or 
 an eminent lawyer, we can scarcely persuade ourselves 
 that Johnson would ever have made a good painter , 
 and we cannot help thinking, that the artist, like the 
 poet, must be bom with certain capabilities for the 
 acquisition of superior excellence in his art, which other 
 men, not equally gifted, will find themselves unqualified 
 bv nature to attain. We do not here allude to John- 
 son's defect of sight, but to the total want of feeling 
 for the art which he seems to have generally ex- 
 hibited ; and we have often seen men of superior 
 ability, ranking high in other liberal professions, whom 
 we should certainly judge to be disqualified by nature 
 for excelling in that of painting. It may fairly be 
 asserted, that without a strong determination to excel, 
 unwearied application, and well-directed labour, no 
 man ever acquired superiority in any difficult pursuit ; 
 but it is probable that Reynolds and Johnson, who 
 profited so greatly by these advantages, and well 
 knew how much could be effected by them, were 
 inclined to think less of the assistance of nature, in 
 proportion as they felt the true value of mental and 
 personal exertion.* 
 
 An inclination for the art began to show itself in 
 
 * We think that we could point out many instances, where 
 artists of eminence and undoubted ability in their profession have 
 been prevented from attaining a higher degree of excellence, from 
 the want of natural qualifications. No man ever took greater 
 delight in his profession, or studied and practised it with greater 
 diligence and assiduity, than West. No man ever had the various 
 resources of his art more completely under his command, or«om- 
 bined the results of theory and practice with greater precision, than 
 he did. If study and enthusiasm could have made a great painter, 
 they might reasonably have been expected to make one of West : 
 yet we find that he never acquired a true feeling fcr colour, a fine 
 perception of the beauty of form, or of that which constitutes 
 grace; and that he generally failed in the delineation of character 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 37 
 
 Reynolds at a very early period of his life, and his 
 efforts were encouraged by his father, — who was him- 
 self fond of drawings, and had a small collection of 
 anatomical and other prints, — when they did not in- 
 terfere with his studies.* His first essays are said to 
 have been copies from drawings done by his sisters, 
 who had also some turn for the art ; and he afterwards 
 copied such prints as" he chanced to meet with among 
 his father's books, particularly those in Dryden's Plu- 
 tarch ; but his richest store was Jacob Catt's book of 
 emblems, which his grandmother, a native of Holland, 
 had brought with her from that country. At eight 
 years of age he read with great avidity the " Jesuits' 
 Perspective," which chanced to lie on the window-seat 
 of his father's parlour ; and made himself so completely 
 master of it, that he never afterwards had occasion 
 to study any other treatise on the subject. The first 
 effort which he made towards reducing the rules thus 
 acquired to practice, was a drawing of the grammar- 
 school at Plympton, which, being raised on stone 
 pillars, afforded a good subject for illustration ; and in 
 this he succeeded so well, that his father, on seeing 
 it, is said to have exclaimed " Now this exemplifies 
 what the author of the ' Perspective' asserts ; that, by 
 
 and expression, when his subject required that they should be 
 of an elevated nature. It must, however, be remembered that the 
 talents of West made ample amends for the deficiencies of nature. 
 His knowledge of the art was profound and extensive, and few 
 have equalled him in taste and facility of execution. He may truly 
 be said to have raised the character of historical painting in this 
 country to a height which British artists had not previously been 
 qualified to attain. 
 
 * Malone tells us that Lady Inchiquin (afterwards Marchioness 
 of Thomond) had one of these very early essays ; — a perspective 
 view of a bookcase, under which Mr. Reynolds had written, — 
 " Done by Joshua, out of pure idleness." It is on the back of a 
 Latin exercise. 
 
38 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 observing the rules laid down in his book, a man may 
 do wonders, — for this is wonderful." He next pro- 
 ceeded to draw likenesses of the friends and relations 
 of his family, with no inconsiderable success : but 
 what appears to have most confirmed him in the love 
 of the art, was the perusal of Richardson's " Treatise 
 on Painting ;" which so delighted and inflamed his 
 mind, says Malone, " that Raphael appeared to him 
 superior to the most illustrious names of ancient or 
 modern times, — a notion which he loved to indulge all 
 the days of his life." 
 
 Much importance can scarcely be attached to the 
 early efforts of childhood in any pursuit, particularly 
 in those which require but little exertion of the mind ; 
 and we cannot consider the inclination for drawing 
 manifested by young Reynolds at this period as any 
 proof of the existence of the germs of that superior 
 excellence by which he was afterwards distinguished ; 
 but the attention which was paid by a boy of eight years 
 old to the study of a work on so dry a subject as per- 
 spective, showed an effort of the mind which deserved 
 to be encouraged, and Mr. Reynolds acted wisely in 
 noticing it. 
 
 Having now received praise for his performances 
 in art, sufficient to stimulate him to further exertions, 
 and to give him some preference for that occupation 
 which had obtained for him more distinction than 
 his other requirements, it may well be imagined that 
 voung Reynolds's mind was excited by the glowing 
 description of the importance which Raphael had ac- 
 quired among his enthusiastic countrymen ; and we 
 may reasonably presume that Richardson's treatise 
 materially contributed to give him that ambition for 
 distinction as an artist which continued to stimulate him 
 throughout the rest of his life. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 
 
 39 
 
 It is difficult to say how far the feeling which Sir 
 Joshua possessed for his art would have influenced 
 him in the study of any other profession, and how far 
 the ability which he displayed in it might have been 
 turned with advantage into another channel. His own 
 opinion on the subject has already been stated; and 
 Johnson's notion, that "true genius is a mind of large 
 general powers accidentally determined to some par- 
 ticular direction," appears to have suggested or con- 
 firmed it. The point must still remain a matter of 
 speculation, for there are no sufficient data on which 
 to found a conclusion ; yet Reynolds himself, as North- 
 cote justly observes, " never meant to deny the exist- 
 ence of genius, supposing the term to denote a greater 
 degree of natural capacity in some minds than others : 
 but he always contended strenuously against the vulgar 
 and absurd interpretation of the word, which supposes 
 that the same person may be a man of genius in one 
 respect, but utterly unfit for, and almost an idiot in, 
 every thing else ; and that this singular and unaccount- 
 able faculty is a gift born with us, which does not need 
 the assistance of pains or culture, time or accident, to 
 improve and perfect it." 
 
 A few extracts from Sir Joshua's admirable "Dis- 
 courses" will convince us of the truth of Northcote's 
 observations, and prove that it is only in the accept- 
 ation of the term that Reynolds differs with others on 
 the subject of genius, of which he certainly never 
 meant to deny the existence. That genius, without 
 exertion and judicious cultivation, is sufficient for the 
 attainment of excellence in any pursuit, there are few, 
 we should imagine, who are hardy enough to maintain ; 
 but still, that nature does nothing to fit us more for one 
 pursuit than another, is a point which, in our opinion, 
 d 4 
 
40 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 still remains open, and which we think it would be 
 difficult to establish by facts.* 
 
 As young Reynolds's propensity for his fascinating 
 art continued to become daily more manifest, his fa- 
 ther thought fit to gratify his inclination ; and when 
 he was little more than seventeen years old, placed him 
 as a pupil under Hudson, who, though but an ordinary 
 painter, was the most distinguished artist of that time.f 
 
 * " To speak of genius and taste as in any way connected with 
 reason and common sense, would be, in the opinion of some tower- 
 ing talkers, to speak like a man who possessed neither ; who had 
 never felt that enthusiasm, or, to use their own inflated language, 
 was never warmed by that Promethean fire, which animates the 
 canvass and vivifies the marble. If, in order to be intelligible, I 
 appear to degrade art, by bringing her down from her visionary 
 situation in the clouds, it is only to give her a more solid mansion 
 upon earth. It is necessary that, some time or other, we should 
 see things as they really are, and not impose on ourselves by that 
 false magnitude with which objects appear when viewed indis- 
 tinctly, as through a mist." — Discourse 7. 
 
 " Invention is one of the great marks of genius , but if we con- 
 sult experience, we shall find that it is by being conversant with 
 the inventions of others that we learn to invent, as by reading the 
 thoughts of others we learn to think. 
 
 " The greatest natural genius cannot subsist on its own stock : 
 he who resolves never to ransack any mind but his own, will be 
 soon reduced, from mere barrenness to the poorest of all imitations ; 
 he will be obliged to imitate himself, and repeat what he has be- 
 fore often repeated." — Discourse 6. 
 
 " It is indisputably evident, that a great part of every man's 
 life must be employed in collecting materials for the exercise of 
 genius. Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new 
 combination of those images which have been previously gathered 
 and deposited in the memory. Nothing can come of nothing ; 
 he who has laid up no materials, can produce no combinations."— 
 Discourse 2. 
 
 f Thomas Hudson was the pupil and son-in-law of Richardson, 
 and " enjoyed for many years," says LordOrford, in his "Anecdotes 
 of Painting," *' the chief business of portrait-painting in the capital, 
 after the favourite artists, his master and Jervas, were gone off the 
 stage; though Vanloo first, and Liotard afterwards, for a few 
 years, diverted the torrent of fashion from the established pro- 
 fession. Still the country gentlemen were faithful to their compa- 
 triot, and were content with his honest similitudes, and with the fair 
 
8IR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 41 
 
 Whether from accident or design does not appear, but 
 the day on which this inauguration took place was 
 that which is devoted to Saint Luke, the patron saint of 
 artists and art in the calendar of our Catholic prede- 
 cessors ; it was the 14th of October, in the year 1740. 
 Mr. Cranch, a gentlemen of small independent fortune, 
 residing at the town of Plympton, and a friend of 
 Reynolds's family, was instrumental in recommending 
 this measure; and he lived long enough to see his 
 early opinions justified respecting Sir Joshua's future 
 excellence. In grateful remembrance of this favour- 
 
 tied wigs, blue velvet coats, and white satin waistcoats, which he 
 bestowed liberally on his customers, and which, with complacency, 
 they beheld multiplied in Faber's mezzotintos. The better taste 
 introduced by Sir Joshua Reynolds put an end to Hudson's reign, 
 who had the good sense to resign the throne soon after finishing 
 his capital work, the family piece of Charles Duke of Marl- 
 borough (about 1756). He died January 26, 1779, aged 78." 
 
 The completion of the head, in his portraits, appears to have 
 been the extent of Hudson's abilities ; for he was usually indebted 
 to his assistants for placing it well on the shoulders, and finishing 
 the drapery and other details. This office was for a long time per- 
 formed, says Northcote, by one Vanhaaken ; and Hudson, on the 
 death of his assistant, " was driven almost to despair :" he was for- 
 tunate enough, however, to meet with another drapery-painter, 
 named Roth, who, though not so expert as the former, was yet 
 sufficiently qualified to carry on the manufactory. 
 
 " Hogarth seems to be of opinion" (we still quote the words of 
 Northcote) " that Hudson was not the only painter of his time that 
 was indebted to Vanhaaken for assistance in finishing portraits ; 
 for, on the death of this eminent drapery -painter, he produced a 
 ludicrous caricature of Vanhaaken's funeral procession, containing 
 a long train, composed of all the portrait-painters of the metro- 
 polis as mourners, and overwhelmed with the deepest distress." 
 
 «' The genius of Hogarth was too great, and his public employ- 
 ment too little, to require the assistance of a drapery-painter ; 
 therefore he might safely point his satire at those who did." 
 
 Mortimer and Wright of Derby were pupils of Hudson ; they 
 were men of superior talent in other branches of the art, but were 
 never even moderately successful in portraiture ; and were in- 
 debted to their master for that heaviness of style alone, by which 
 the execution of their pictures is for the most part distinguished. 
 
42 
 
 MEMOIR OY 
 
 able opinion, Reynolds, many years afterwards, had a 
 handsome silver cup made with the view of presenting 
 it to his judicious friend. Mr. Cranch's death pre- 
 vented the act of gratitude ; but Northcote, from whom 
 we quote the fact, had often seen the cup at Sir 
 Joshua's table. 
 
 The terms of the agreement with Hudson were, that, 
 provided he approved of his pupil, young Reynolds 
 was to remain four years with him, but might be dis- 
 charged before that period at his master's pleasure : 
 our young artist was accordingly sent up to London, 
 and on the 18th of October was introduced to his 
 future preceptor. He was employed for some time by 
 Hudson in copying the drawings of Guercino, — a task 
 which he performed with such skill, that " many of these 
 early productions are now preserved in the cabinets of 
 the curious in this kingdom, and most of them are 
 actually considered as originals by that master."^ 
 Hudson has been blamed for adopting this mode of 
 instruction, and probably not without reason ; but cor- 
 rectness of eye was at any rate acquired by his pupil, 
 from the practice of copying drawings ; and it may 
 reasonably be presumed that young Reynolds was some- 
 what deficient in this respect when he first began his 
 studies under a master. 
 
 It is evident, however, from the progress that he 
 quickly made in painting, that he did not waste too 
 much time on inferior objects ; and Hudson was so far 
 from being dissatisfied with his improvement, that, on 
 seeing the portrait of an elderly female servant of the 
 family, which Reynolds had painted, he is said to have 
 been jealous of the rising talent, and to have predicted 
 the future success of his pupil. This picture, having 
 
 * Northcote'a Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 43 
 
 been afterwards accidentally seen among the portraits 
 in Hudson's gallery, obtained so universal a preference 
 over them, that the jealousy which a first view of the 
 work had excited, was materially strengthened by this 
 unfavourable competition; and the mortified professor, 
 who had long been without a rival, could not calmly 
 contemplate the possibility of finding one in the person 
 of a juvenile proficient in the art, who had so lately 
 applied to him for instruction. Under the influence of 
 this feeling, he was not long in contriving a pretext for 
 dismissing his too successful pupil, which he did on the 
 following occasion : — 
 
 Reynolds had been told to take a picture to Van- 
 haaken, the drapery-painter ; but, as the evening on 
 which he was to have executed this commission turned 
 out to be wet, he postponed his task till the follow- 
 ing morning: the picture was, however, delivered at 
 an early hour, and there were no reasonable grounds 
 of complaint. But Hudson was determined to find 
 fault : he told Reynolds imperiously, that he had dis- 
 obeyed his orders, and insisted that he should leave 
 him immediately. It was in vain that his pupil sug- 
 gested the propriety of first writing to his father on 
 the subject, who might otherwise think that he had 
 committed some crime ; the wounded pride of Hudson 
 would admit of no delay, and Reynolds quitted him to 
 remove to the house of an uncle, who resided in the 
 Temple; and from thence wrote to his father, who 
 after consulting his neighbour Lord Edgecumbe (says 
 Farington), directed him to come down to Devonshire. 
 In later years, this escape from the trammels of bad 
 taste and insipidity was considered by Sir Joshua 
 as a favourable circumstance: he had remained two 
 years with Hudson ; and had acquired, in that period, 
 a sufficient degree of practice to enable him to proceed 
 
44 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 with some facility in his studies : but his performances 
 were, for some time after he quitted his instructor, 
 slightly tinctured with the defects of his style; and, 
 had he remained longer, it is probable that he would 
 have had much more to unlearn, and that the efforts 
 which his superior feeling for the art induced him to 
 make in shaking off the partial Gothicism of manner 
 which he had acquired in the school of Hudson, would 
 have been rendered more difficult in proportion to the 
 time which he had remained under the influence of 
 such a master. Some of the pictures which he painted 
 at this period, appear to have been but very indif- 
 ferent ; " being carelessy drawn," says Northcote, 
 " and frequently in common-place attitudes, like those 
 of his old master Hudson, with one hand hid in the 
 waistcoat, and the hat under the arm, — a very favourite 
 attitude with portrait-painters at that time, because 
 particularly convenient to the artist, as by it he got 
 rid of the tremendous difficulty of painting the hand. 
 But one gentleman, whose portrait Reynolds painted, 
 desired to have his hat on his head in the picture, 
 which was quickly finished, in a common-place atti- 
 tude, done without much study, and sent home ; where, 
 on inspection, it was soon discovered that, although 
 this gentleman, in his portrait, had one hat upon his 
 head, yet there was another under his arm. This 
 picture," Northcote adds, "I never saw; but I have 
 heard the anecdote so often repeated, and from such 
 authority, that I apprehend it to be a truth." 
 
 While Reynolds was with Hudson, soon after his 
 arrival in London, he was sent by his master to make 
 a purchase for him at a sale of pictures ; and as the 
 collection was one of some consequence, the auction- 
 room was uncommonly crowded. Reynolds was at the 
 upper end of the room, close to the auctioneer, when 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 45 
 
 he observed a considerable bustle among the crowd at 
 the other extremity, hear the door, which he could 
 only account for, at the moment, by supposing that 
 some one had fainted from the effects of the heat. 
 But he soon heard the name of Mr. Pope whispered 
 from every mouth, for the poet was then entering the 
 room. Every person drew back to make way for so 
 distinguished a personage ; and all those on either side 
 of the passage which was formed for him, held out their 
 hands that he might touch them as he passed. It 
 chanced that Reynolds was not amongst the foremost, 
 but he put out his hand under the arm of the person 
 who stood before him, and Pope took it, as he did those 
 of others in advancing. " This was the only time," 
 says Northcote, from whom we quote the anecdote, and 
 who had it from Sir Joshua himself, "that Reynolds 
 ever saw that great moralist. Pity that Pope had not 
 known the future importance of the hand which he then 
 received in his own !" 
 
 We glean from this anecdote, in other respects com- 
 paratively trifling, an additional instance of that youth- 
 ful enthusiasm and veneration for superior excellence 
 which inspired young Reynolds, on a former occasion,, 
 with the exalted idea of Raphael that he is known to 
 have retained through life. The admiration of talent 
 in others is a powerful stimulus to an enterprising mind, 
 and with Sir Joshua it proved almost active one. It 
 led to a noble emulation, an ardent thirst for fame and 
 distinction, which prompted him to look steadily for- 
 ward to the objects of his ambition, and to delight in 
 the exertion, however laborious, which brought him 
 nearer to the end he had in view. 
 
 Such an impulse, once given, will never fail in its 
 effect; it will raise the hand in youth, confirm it in 
 manhood, and invigorate it under the infirmities of 
 
46 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 age. The painter, who is inspired by the genius of 
 Raphael, of Michel Angelo, Titian, and Correggio, 
 cannot afford to relax in his exertions ; and Reynolds, 
 had he lived through centuries, would never have been 
 satisfied with less than they possessed, so far as it was 
 possible to apply what he could gain from them to the 
 practice of his own line of art. His name will now be 
 added to those which he venerated ; and the student 
 in painting who glows with emulation in contemplating 
 his admirable works, may learn, from his experience, to 
 appreciate the value of labour, and to depend with con- 
 fidence on the result of that system which gave to Eng- 
 land the founder of a new school of art, and to Rey- 
 nolds a brilliant and lasting reputation. 
 
 On leaving Hudson, Reynolds went back to Devon- 
 shire, where, as he afterwards told Mr. Malone, " he 
 passed about three years in company from whom little 
 improvement could be got ;" and whenever he recalled 
 this period of his life, he always spoke of it "as so 
 much time thrown away," — so, far at least, " as re- 
 lated to a knowledge of the world and of mankind," — 
 "of which," adds his biographer, "he ever afterwards 
 lamented the loss." These remarks have furnished 
 matter for discussion to the writers who succeeded Mr. 
 Malone in the pleasing task of illustrating the fife of 
 Sir Joshua. "It is well known," observes Northcote, 
 " that, during the period here spoken of, he produced 
 a great many portraits, particularly one of a boy read- 
 ing by a reflected light*, and several others which are 
 undoubtedly very fine, as he himself acknowledged on 
 seeing them at the distance of thirty years, when he 
 
 * This painting, fifty years afterwards, was sold bv auction for 
 thirty-five guineas. Some portraits of the noble family of Aber- 
 corn are also very correctly stated to have brought him into con- 
 siderable notice at the above period. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 47 
 
 lamented that in so great a length of time he should 
 have made so little progress in his art. If it is true, 
 therefore, that he really lamented his loss of time in 
 that interval, it arose most probably from a regret that 
 he had not sooner established himself in London, which 
 he always considered as a proper field for the dis- 
 play of talent ; and it was, besides, his early and fixed 
 opinion, which might add to his uneasiness on the sub- 
 ject, that, if he did not prove himself the best painter 
 of his time, when arrived at the age of thirty, he never 
 should. At the period thus fixed upon by himself, 
 there can be little doubt that he had at least surpassed 
 all his competitors. At that interval of supposed 
 negligence, I apprehend, he was still making his ob- 
 servations on what he saw, and forming his taste ; and 
 although there were but few works of art, as I have 
 before noticed, within his reach in that country, still 
 there were the works of one artist, who, notwithstanding 
 he was never known beyond the boundary of the county 
 in which he lived and died, was yet a man of first-rate 
 abilities • and I have heard Sir Joshua himself speak of 
 this painter's portraits, which are to be found only in 
 Devonshire, with the highest respect : he not only 
 much admired his talents as an artist, but, in all his 
 early practice, evidently adopted his manner in regard 
 to painting a head ; and retained it, in some degree, 
 ever after, This painter was William Gandy, of Exeter, 
 whom I cannot but consider as an early master of Rey- 
 nolds." 
 
 " Mr. Malone has observed," says another of Sir 
 Joshua's biographers, "that Reynolds often spoke of 
 this period as so much time thrown away, (so far, at 
 least, as related to a knowledge of the world and of 
 mankind,) of which he ever after lamented the - loss. 
 This surely," he continues, "must have been misun- 
 
43 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 derstood by Mr. Malone. That he had not an earlier 
 and a larger knowledge of the world was then of little 
 importance to him, as he had undoubtedly enough for 
 all useful purposes, especially as he must have asso- 
 ciated with the best society that county afforded. But 
 he had real cause to lament the want of a better edu- 
 cation in his profession. The basis of all superior 
 art is ability in drawing the human figure, and a know- 
 ledge of its anatomy. The valuable days of his youth, 
 — the season when it is best, if not alone, acquired, 
 — passed without his obtaining this, the most essen- 
 tial part of youthful study. The want of this acquire- 
 ment he f felt throughout his life ; for, owing to this 
 neglect, he never had professional strength to attempt 
 to execute works which required great power of hand 
 over form, without exposing his deficiency. Thus limit- 
 ed in professional preparation, he directed the whole 
 force of his mind in the endeavour to carry to perfection 
 that which he could do ; and by whatever means he 
 advanced in his art, it is certain that he did make con- 
 siderable progress in colouring and effect before he left 
 Devonshire to proceed to Italy." 
 
 Such are the observations of two of Sir Joshua's 
 biographers, whose remarks are very justly entitled to 
 our attention. But if we consider the means by which 
 Reynolds advanced in his profession, and acquired so 
 considerable a portion of general knowledge with verv 
 slender advantages of education, we shall probably be 
 inclined to attach more credit to the assertion of Mr. 
 Malone, than on a first view of the subject appears to 
 be consistent with fact. He does not, indeed, appear 
 to have felt the full force of Sir Joshua's remark ; but 
 his recollection of its general tenor (for his veracitv 
 cannot be doubted) is very likely, we think; to have been 
 correct. 
 
Sia JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 49 
 
 In looking back upon the period alluded to, and 
 comparing it with more recent stages of his life, it is 
 natural that Sir Joshua should have taken the view of 
 it which Mr. Malone has attributed to him ; and that 
 in lamenting the time which he confesses to have lost, 
 he actually regretted it " with reference to a knowledge 
 of the world and of mankind ;" and not to any neglect 
 of the means which were afforded him of improving in 
 the practice of his art. But the knowledge in question 
 was not what is generally understood by a knowledge 
 of the world and of mankind ; for of that kind of 
 knowledge, it is probable, as Mr. Farington remarks, 
 that he had enough for all useful purposes. It was the 
 want of proper employment for the mind, of which he 
 did not then know the value, that Reynolds, in later 
 years, may reasonably be supposed to have lamented ; 
 the want of the society of men of talent and learning, 
 from whom he could have gained information, and 
 acquired more enlarged and comprehensive views, and 
 a more correct and refined taste, than he had the means 
 of cultivating in Devonshire. Sir Joshua's mental ac- 
 quirements were chiefly gained from observation, during 
 the intercourse which he enjoyed with men of liberal 
 minds and education ; and notwithstanding the labori- 
 ous exercise of his profession, in which he always steadily 
 persevered, he found time and means to avail him- 
 self of their assistance in supplying his early deficien- 
 cies. He taught himself to think, as well as to paint, 
 by making himself master of the thoughts of others ; 
 and so firmly was he persuaded that the labour of the 
 mind is the most essential requisite in forming a great 
 painter, that he constantly inculcates the necessity of 
 it in his Discourses, and distinguishes it from that of the 
 hand. 
 
 But what was the nature of the society which he was 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
50 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 likely to have met with in his native place, and what 
 where the advantages which it may be supposed to have 
 afforded ? The country gentleman of Sir Joshua's time 
 was not often qualified to give him much assistance in 
 the cultivation of a neglected mind. What he could 
 give was, no doubt, liberally afforded : a good day's 
 hunting, shooting, or fishing, and an excellent dinner, 
 at which to talk over the exploits and mishaps of those 
 engaged in the sport, were probably never wanting to 
 him in Devonshire, and seldom declined, we may 
 reasonably conclude, by a youth of nineteen and 
 twenty. 
 
 He does not indeed appear, under all these tempt- 
 ations, to have much neglected the practice of his pro- 
 fession ; but it is probable that he did not look far be- 
 yond his palette and pencils, and did not much increase 
 the slender stock of intellectual acquirements which he 
 brought with him from the atelier of Hudson. He had 
 not then the same views of art which he possessed in 
 later years, and had no sufficient means of expanding 
 his mind, so as to enable him to see his deficiencies and 
 to take the best means of correcting them. The com- 
 panion of Johnson and Burke well knew what he had 
 gained from their society, and could appreciate the differ- 
 ence between what Malone has called " a knowledge 
 of the world and of mankind," and the species of in- 
 formation which he had gained during a three years' 
 residence among country gentlemen. 
 
 We must, however, conclude, that at the period to 
 which Sir Joshua adverted, he had not become ac- 
 quainted with the family of the Mudges, by whose at- 
 tainments he appears to have profited so much, and 
 for whom he entertained a most sincere regard. This 
 acquaintance must be reckoned, on the authority of 
 Northcote, who owed much to the same family, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 51 
 
 "among the earliest of his literary connections." — "I 
 have myself heard Sir Joshua declare," he continues, 
 " that the elder Mr. Mudge was, in his opinion, the 
 wisest man he had ever met with in his life ; and so 
 great an admirer was he of the literary works of Mr. 
 Mudge, that he had intended to have republished his 
 sermons, which were out of print, and also to have 
 written a sketch of his life and character." 
 
 The improvement which Sir Joshua had made in 
 colouring previously to his departure for Italy, appears 
 to have been chiefly derived from the works of William 
 Gandy, which he had frequent opportunities of study- 
 ing in Devonshire. *' He told me himself," observes 
 Northcote, " that he had seen portraits by Gandy 
 that were equal to those of Rembrandt ; one, in par- 
 ticular, of an alderman of Exeter, which is placed in a 
 public building in that city. I have also heard him 
 repeat some observations of Gandy, which had been 
 mentioned to him, and which he approved of ; one in 
 particular was, ' that a picture ought to have a richness 
 in its texture, as if the colours had been composed of 
 cream or cheese, and the reverse to a hard and husky 
 or dry manner.' "* Mr. Farington mentions having 
 seen a much esteemed picture by Gandy, and is dis- 
 posed to concur in the opinion, " that Reynolds might 
 have imbibed, at an early age, a strong impression from 
 studying the works of that artist ; and that he carried 
 with him to Italy a recollection of their peculiar solemn 
 and forcible effect. Certainly," he adds, " some of 
 the pictures which Reynolds painted while he was in 
 Devonshire have a depth of tone and colour wholly 
 unlike the flat and insipid pictures of the artists who 
 were then most celebrated in London." A clever 
 
 * Many interesting particulars respecting this artist will be 
 found in the supplement to Northcote's Memoirs of Sir Joshua. 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 portrait of himself, which represents him with his 
 palette and pencils, and shading the light from his 
 eyes, was painted at this time ; the engraving is taken 
 from it which forms the frontispiece to Northcote's 
 Memoirs. At the same period he painted Miss Chud- 
 leigh, afterwards celebrated as Duchess of Kingston ; 
 and in a letter which he wrote to his father from the 
 house which he had taken at Plymouth Dock, and 
 where he resided with his two youngest unmarried 
 sisters, he acquainted him, with some degree of exult- 
 ation, that he had painted the portrait of the greatest 
 man of the place — the commissioner of the dock- 
 yard. But the picture which appears to have brought 
 him most into notice at this period was a portrait of 
 Captain Hamilton, now in possession, says Malone, of 
 the Marquis of Abercorn ; and there is a portrait of 
 the same gentleman, with his children around him, a 
 small family piece painted about the same time, in the 
 collection of Lord Eliot, at port Eliot in Cornwall. It 
 was on seeing the first-mentioned portrait of Captain 
 Hamilton, and that of the boy reading, painted at the 
 same period, that Sir Joshua, thirty years afterwards, 
 expressed regret at the little improvement he had 
 made in the interval ; and it is probable, that with his 
 elevated conception of excellence he would have ex- 
 perienced the same feeling on reviewing the latest 
 works which he painted, could he have lived to acquire 
 a still farther proficiency in his art. His ardent mind 
 was not formed to look with complacency on what he 
 had already acquired ; but he turned his eye steadily 
 on those difficulties which he thought he had not yet 
 subdued, and prepared to encounter them with the 
 energy and the coolness of a long-practised champion 
 in art. Secure of the advantages already obtained, he 
 dismissed them in turn from his attention ; and, while 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 53 
 
 any single object remained to be contended* for, he 
 attacked it as if it bad been worth ail the rest. The 
 possession of the world could not satisfy the ambition 
 of Alexander ; and when Reynolds had mastered all tbe 
 existing difficulties of his art, he would himself have 
 imagined new ones. 
 
 In less than two years after he quitted Hudson, young 
 Reynolds lost an anxious and affectionate parent. His 
 father died on Christmas-day, 1746, universally beloved 
 and lamented. 
 
 Sir Joshua is known to have early imbibed the habit 
 of thinking philosophically ; and he made it a constant 
 rule in later years not to allow himself to be affected 
 by occurrences of comparatively trifling importance, 
 or overcome by those which might reasonably have ex- 
 cited him. The philosopher, however, even though he 
 be a stoic, is not necessarily devoid of the feeling which 
 he seeks to conceal, arid we cannot persuade ourselves 
 that a shock of this nature was not very acutely felt, 
 though its effects have not been noticed by Reynolds's 
 biographers. 
 
 The ties of kindred are strong in more remote de- 
 grees of relationship ; but those which bind parents and 
 children have qualities pecubar to themselves. Thev 
 cannot be drawn closer, for the range of human feeling 
 will admit of no closer connection ; and they cannot be 
 loosened, for neither time nor circumstances can weaken 
 the feelings by which they are cemented. 
 
 We could wish that Mr. Reynolds had been destined 
 to rejoice in the well-earned and brilliant reputation 
 that his son acquired in later years ; but we have still 
 the satisfaction of knowing, that he lived to see him 
 reach a degree of eminence from which great results 
 might reasonably be anticipated, and the ever partial 
 
 e 3 
 
54 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 eye of a father may be rather suspected of extending 
 than of diminishing the prospect held out to him. 
 
 During his residence at Plymouth Dock, Reynolds 
 first became acquainted with the family of Mount 
 Edgcumbe, who patronized him warmly, and not only 
 employed him in his profession, but recommended him 
 to the Honourable Augustus Keppel, then a captain in 
 the navy, and afterwards Viscount Keppel. This of- 
 ficer was about to hoist his flag in the Centurion, to 
 take command of a squadron, as commodore, which 
 had been ordered to the Mediterranean. He was to 
 carry out presents to the Dey of Algiers, and was em- 
 powered at the same time to demand restitution of the 
 money which had been recently plundered out of the 
 Prince Frederic packet by the corsairs. Captain 
 Keppel was at this time fitting out at Plymouth Dock, 
 and Mr. Reynolds very gladly availed himself of his 
 earnest invitation to accompany him during part of 
 the voyage. As the equipment of the squadron and 
 the preparation of the presents were likely to occupy 
 some time, the commodore had orders to proceed to 
 sea immediately in the Centurion ; and he sailed, ac- 
 companied by Reynolds, on the 11th May, 1749. To 
 visit Italy, and Rome in particular, had long been the 
 object of Reynolds's ambition : he was now nearly 
 twenty- six years of age, and his successful employment 
 in Devonshire had enabled him to set aside a sum 
 which he thought might be sufficient for his purpose. 
 Captain Keppel's invitation was therefore peculiarly 
 well timed, and the opportunity which now offered 
 itself was more favourable to our young artist's views 
 than his most sanguine expectations could have anti- 
 cipated. His voyage was made very agreeable to him 
 by the attentions of the commodore, who treated him 
 with the utmost kindness, and gratified his curiosity at 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 5.3 
 
 every place where the ship touched whenever an 
 opportunity was afforded. The Centurion arrived at 
 Lisbon on the 24th of May, where Reynolds saw a bull- 
 fight and many grand religious processions. On the 
 9th of June the ship anchored at Gibraltar, and after 
 a few weeks proceeded to Algiers, in execution of 
 the orders of the admiralty. On arriving at Algiers, 
 July 20th, Reynolds accompanied Captain Keppel on 
 a visit of state to the Dey, to whom he was also intro- 
 duced; and as the object of the mission was soon 
 accomplished, through the spirited conduct of the 
 youthful commodore, the vessel quitted the African 
 coast, and sailed for Port Mahon in the island of 
 Minorca. 
 
 " At Port Mahon," says Northcote, " the friendship 
 of the commodore, as well as his own merit, soon intro- 
 duced him to notice ; and he was busily employed in 
 painting the portraits of almost all the officers of the 
 garrison and on the station, much to the improvement 
 of his skill and fortune." General Blakeney, the go- 
 vernor, was particularly attentive to him, and insisted 
 on his not being at any expense for quarters during the 
 whole time of his residence in the island : he also pressed 
 him in the most cordial manner to take his seat every 
 day at the government table. 
 
 Reynolds was obliged to remain longer at Port 
 Mahon than he originally intended, in consequence of 
 an accident that might have proved fatal to him. His 
 horse fell with him down a precipice, and his face 
 was cut so severely, as to oblige him to keep his room 
 for some time. It was on this occasion, Northcote 
 observes, that his hp was so much bruised as to oblige 
 him to have part of it cut off ; and hence arose that 
 apparent contraction which Mr. Edwards supposes to 
 have been owing to his subsequent illness at Rome. 
 
 e 4 
 
5 S 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 His recovery enabled him to put in execution his 
 original plan of visiting Italy, and for a time he took 
 leave of his friend the commodore, who had treated 
 him during the whole of the voyage with the greatest 
 kindness and attention, affording him the liberal use of 
 his cabin and library, and introducing him, when in 
 port, to the first circles in which he associated. 
 Reynolds now took a passage to Leghorn, and from 
 thence proceeded to Rome, there to realise the visions 
 which inflamed his youthful mind when he read of Michel 
 Angelo and Raffaelle. 
 
 " Rome," observes the author of the Lives of British 
 Artists, in his spirited and entertaining account of Sir 
 Joshua, " Rome, which is in reality to painters what 
 Parnassus is in imagination to poets, was frequently 
 present to the fancy of Reynolds, and he longed to 
 see with his own eyes the glories in art of which he 
 had heard so much : he desired to pay his homage to 
 the princes of the profession, and profit, if possible, by 
 studying their productions. A visit to the Sistine Chapel 
 confers on an artist that kind of dignity which studying 
 at a university bestows on a scholar ; and one would 
 imagine, from the importance attached to such a pil- 
 grimage, that excellence in painting could be acquired 
 like knowledge in Greek : but the power to remember is 
 one thing, and the power to create is another."* 
 
 It may here be suggested, that Rome is, in fact, 
 something more to the student in painting than an 
 
 * Cunningham's Lives of British Painters, p. 217. Mr. 
 Cunningham has given us a very comprehensive and highly 
 entertaining Life of Sir Joshua ; but we shall frequently have 
 occasion to combat the observations which he makes on the subject 
 of art, and shall sometimes feel ourselves obliged to differ with 
 him in his estimate of the personal character of Reynolds, of 
 which we do not think that he has taken quite so liberal a view 
 as the circumstance to which he has alluded will justify. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 57 
 
 imaginary source of inspiration ; it is a practical school 
 for the study of art, and for those important branches 
 of it, in particular, which alone can give it the intel- 
 lectual value which constitutes its greatest attraction. 
 Sir Joshua gained more from the Sistine Chapel than 
 the empty distinction of having visited it : and if others 
 have retired from it with no larger views of art than 
 those with which they first may have entered it, the 
 fault must be attributed to the weakness or the care- 
 lessness of the visitors, and not to the works which thev 
 contemplated. 
 
 We must also recollect, that the power of creating 
 depends upon the power of remembering ; invention is 
 little more than a new combination of ideas already 
 acquired, and he who has most enriched his mind with 
 the stores of nature and of art will always have the 
 most fertile and the readiest invention. Sir Joshua 
 aptly applied the observation of Grotius to demon- 
 strate the necessity of study : — " Nothing can come of 
 nothing :" it must not be expected that the power of 
 creating will come to an artist by instinct ; ideas must 
 first be laid up in the mind, before the ability of se- 
 lecting and combining them, so as to give them the 
 appearance of novelty and the powerful attraction of 
 interest, can reasonably be expected to show itself : 
 we may wait very long for inspiration, if there be no 
 stock to draw upon for the display of it. At the same 
 time, the nature of the matter collected is of quite as 
 much importance as the habit of collecting it ; and the 
 best materials, where the powers of applying them are 
 equal, will always produce the most valuable results. 
 
 If the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican, as long ex- 
 perience has taught us to believe, contain the finest 
 examples of graphic art within their walls of which 
 we have now any knowledge, can we wonder that the 
 
58 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 artist who is in pursuit of excellence should seek it 
 where he knows it will certainly be found ; and 
 may he not, without incurring the imputation of pe- 
 dantry and ostentation, perform the pilgrimage to the 
 shrines of his professional divinities, which is here so 
 incautiously held up to ridicule ? If dunces have 
 come back from Italy to talk of what they were unable 
 to comprehend, and paint dreams of perfection sug- 
 gested to waking imbecility by the nightmare of a 
 dense or disordered imagination, must the student who 
 can bring to the study of excellence the power of 
 imbibing and retaining it, with the laudable determin- 
 ation of exerting such ability to the utmost, be de- 
 terred from so rational and so profitable an indulgence 
 by the fear of being confounded with ignorant and 
 self-sufficient coxcombs in art ? No man disliked the 
 cant of criticism, or despised the pedantry of the 
 schools, more than did Sir Joshua Reynolds ; yet no 
 one contended more strenuously for the necessity of 
 studying the works of the great masters, and parti- 
 cularly those of the Roman and Florentine schools, 
 than he did on every occasion ; and though he did not 
 persuade himself that excellence in painting could be 
 acquired like a knowledge of Greek, yet he knew that 
 the dignity and classic simplicity of art could nowhere 
 be studied with greater advantage than at Rome, and 
 that unless they were sought for and reduced to fixed 
 principles they would not be acquired at all. 
 
 On his arrival at Rome, Reynolds lost no time in 
 forwarding the objects of his journey. " He contem- 
 plated," says Northcote, "with unwearied attention 
 and ardent zeal the various beauties which marked 
 the styles of different schools and different ages ; he 
 sought for truth, taste, and beauty at the fountain 
 head. It was with no common eye that he beheld 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 59 
 
 the productions of the great masters ; he copied and 
 sketched in the Vatican such parts of the works of 
 Raffaelle and Michel Angelo as he thought would be 
 most conducive to his future excellence, and by his 
 well-directed study acquired, whilst he contemplated 
 the best works of the best masters, that grace of 
 thinking to which he was principally indebted for his 
 subsequent reputation as a portrait painter. In at- 
 tending more particularly to this, he avoided all en- 
 gagements for copying works of art for the various 
 travellers at that time in Rome, knowing that kind of 
 employment, as he afterwards said in a letter to Barry, 
 to be totally useless : ' Whilst I was at Rome I was 
 very little employed by them, and that little I always 
 considered as so much time lost.' " 
 
 Reynolds was too much occupied with his studies to 
 bestow much attention upon epistolary correspondence ; 
 " but I think it not improper," continues Mr. North- 
 cote, " to insert here the following letter, as the first 
 sketch of one he sent to his friend and patron Lord 
 Mount Edgcumbe, written with admirable simplicity 
 of language, and rendered interesting from the elegant, 
 grateful, and feeling mind it displays, as well as show- 
 ing the absurdity of imputing some others to his pen. 
 
 " ' TO THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD E . 
 
 " ' My Lord, 
 
 " ' I am now, thanks to your lordship, at the height of 
 my wishes, in the midst of the greatest works of art 
 that the world has produced. I had a very long pas- 
 sage, though a very pleasant one. I am at last in Rome, 
 having seen many places and sights which I never 
 
CO 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 thought of seeing. I have been at Lisbon, Cadiz, 
 Gibraltar, Algiers, and Mahon. The commodore staid 
 at Lisbon a week, in which time there happened to be 
 two of the greatest sights that could be seen had he 
 staid there a whole year, — a bull feast, and the proces- 
 sion of Corpus Christi. Your lordship will excuse me if 
 I say that, from the kind treatment and great civilities 
 I have received from the commodore, I fear I have 
 even laid your lordship under obligations to him on my 
 account ; since from nothing but your lordship's re- 
 commendation I could possibly expect to meet with 
 that polite behaviour with which I have always been 
 treated ; J had the use of his cabin and his study of 
 books as if they had been my own, and when he went 
 on shore he generally took me with him, so that I not 
 only had an opportunity of seeing a great deal, but I 
 saw it with all the advantages as if I had travelled as 
 his equal. At Cadiz I saw another bull-feast. I ask 
 your lordship's pardon for being guilty of that usual 
 piece of ill-manners in speaking so much of myself : 
 I should not have committed it after such favours. 
 Impute my not writing to the true reason ; I thought 
 it impertinent to write to your lordship without a pro- 
 per reason, to let you know where I am, if your lord- 
 ship should have any commands here that I am capable 
 of executing. Since I have been in Rome I have been 
 looking about the palaces for a fit picture of which I 
 might take a copy to present your lordship with, 
 though it would have been much more genteel to have 
 sent the picture without any previous intimation of it. 
 Any one you choose, the larger the better, as it will 
 have a more grand effect when hung up, and a kind of 
 painting I like more than little. Though perhaps it will 
 be too great a presumption to expect it, I must needs 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 01 
 
 own I most impatiently wait for this order from your 
 lordship. 
 
 " ' I am, &c. 
 
 " ' Joshua Reynolds.' " 
 
 This letter is certainly better felt than expressed ; 
 but it is fully sufficient to set aside the imputation to 
 which Mr. Northcote alludes — that of Reynolds having 
 been in early life very grossly illiterate. His style 
 of correspondence was, however, much improved in 
 later years ; and with respect to the originality of his 
 Discourses, which Johnson, or Burke was once sus- 
 pected of composing, it has long ago ceased to be 
 questioned. Indeed, as Farington observes, "there 
 are competent judges now living, who well remember, 
 that, when required to exert his colloquial powers, he 
 spoke as well as he wrote, and clearly showed his 
 ability for either purpose." 
 
 Young Reynolds found time wliile at Rome to write 
 to several of his professional acquaintance in England, 
 exhorting them to follow him, and adding — "that if 
 it were possible to give them an idea of what was to 
 be seen there, the remains of antiquity, the sculpture, 
 paintings, and architecture, &c. they would think it 
 worth while, nay, they would break through all ob- 
 stacles, and set off immediately for Rome." 
 
 " Notwithstanding these expressions of general ad- 
 miration," says Farington, " the mind of our artist, ac- 
 cording to his own declaration, was not then sufficiently 
 cultivated to enable him to appreciate, on a first view, 
 the excellence of the sublime conceptions and grand 
 execution displayed in the works of Michel Angelo and 
 Raffaelle in the Vatican." 
 
 His impressions with respect to these performances, 
 and the efforts which he subsequently made to acquire 
 
62 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 a better feeling for art than he brought with him from 
 England, are well described in the papers collected by 
 Mr. Malone. "Among our author's loose papers," ob- 
 serves his biographer, " I have found some detached and 
 unconnected thoughts, written occasionally, as hints for 
 a Discourse, on a new and singular plan, which he 
 appears, at a late period of his life, to have had in 
 contemplation to compose, and deliver to the Academy ; 
 and which he seems to have intended as a history of his 
 mind, so far as concerned his art, and of his progress, 
 studies, and practice, together with a view of the ad- 
 vantages which he enjoyed and the disadvantages he had 
 laboured under in the course that he had run ; a scheme 
 from which, however liable it might be to the ridicule of 
 wits and scoffers, — a circumstance of which, he says, he 
 was perfectly aware, — he conceived that the students 
 might derive some useful documents for the regulation 
 of their conduct and practice. It is much to be re- 
 gretted," continues Mr. Malone, " that he did not live 
 to compose such a discourse ; for, from the hand of so 
 great and candid an artist, it could not but have been 
 highly curious and instructive. One of these frag- 
 ments relating to his feelings when he first went to Italy, 
 every reader will, I am confident, be pleased with its 
 insertion." 
 
 " ' It has frequently happened,' says this great painter, 
 ' as I was informed by the keeper of the Vatican, that 
 many of those whom he had conducted through the 
 various apartments of that edifice, when about to be 
 dismissed, have asked for the works of Raffaelle, and 
 would not believe that they had already passed through 
 the rooms where they are preserved ; so little im- 
 pression had these performances made on them. One 
 of the first painters in France told me that this circum- 
 stance happened to himself; though he now looks on 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 63 
 
 Raffaelle with that veneration which he deserves from 
 all painters and lovers of the art. I remember very 
 well my own disappointment when I first visited the 
 Vatican ; but on confessing my feelings to a brother 
 student, of whose ingenuousness I had a high opinion, 
 he acknowledged that the works of Raffaelle had the 
 same effect on him ; or rather, that they did not pro- 
 duce the effect which he expected. 
 
 " ' This was a great relief to my mind ; and, on in- 
 quiring farther of other students, I found that those per- 
 sons only who from natural imbecility appeared to be 
 incapable of ever relishing these divine performances, 
 made pretensions to instantaneous raptures on first 
 beholding them.* In justice to myself, however, I 
 must add, that though disappointed and mortified at 
 not finding myself enraptured with the works of this 
 great master, I did not for a moment conceive or 
 suppose that the name of Raffaelle, and those ad- 
 mirable paintings in particular, owed their reputation 
 to the ignorance and the prejudice of mankind ; on 
 the contrary, my not relishing them as I was conscious 
 I ought to have done was one of the most humiliating 
 things that ever happened to me. I found myself in 
 the midst of works executed upon principles with which 
 I ivas unacquainted. — I felt my ignorance, and stood 
 abashed. 
 
 " All the indigested notions of painting which I had 
 brought with me from England, where the art was at 
 
 * This remark has been occasionally understood to imply, that 
 none but an imbecile person can be alive, at first sight, to the 
 genius of Raffaelle ; an assertion which few would be found to 
 assent to, even on the faith of Sir Joshua's authority. But Rey- 
 nolds clearly says, that " those persons only, who from natural 
 imbecility appeared to be incapable of relishing these divine per- 
 formances, made pretensions to instantaneous raptures on first 
 beholding them," and affected emotions which they did not feel. 
 
64 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the lowest ebb, — it could not, indeed, be lower, — were 
 to be totally done away with and eradicated from my 
 mind. It was necessary, as it is expressed on a very 
 solemn occasion, that I should become as a little child. 
 Notwithstanding my disappointment, I proceeded to 
 copy some of those excellent works. I viewed them 
 again and again ; I even affected to feel their merits, 
 and to admire them more than I really did. In a short 
 time, a new taste and new perceptions began to dawn 
 upon me, and I was convinced that I had originally 
 formed a false opinion of the perfection of art, and that 
 this great painter was well entitled to the high rank 
 which he holds in the estimation of the world. 
 
 " The truth is, that if these works had really been 
 what I expected, they would have contained beauties 
 superficial and alluring, but by no means such as would 
 have entitled them to the great reputation which they 
 have so long and so justly obtained.' " 
 
 We must not be surprised at the little admiration 
 which a young English artist of 1749, unacquainted 
 with the noble works of Grecian sculpture, and un- 
 practised in the art of drawing, experienced in con- 
 templating, for the first time, the dignified simplicity 
 of Raffaelle. Had he received the same advantages of 
 early education which the institution of the Royal 
 Academy, and the perusal of his own invaluable dis- 
 courses, have subsequently afforded to the student in 
 art, the result would probably have been very dif- 
 ferent. But he had not been taught to look at nature 
 in the abstract, and had never raised his mind to the 
 contemplation of intellectual art. He not only found 
 himself " in the midst of works executed upon prin- 
 ciples with which he was unacquainted," but he had 
 learned to consider other parts of the art of painting, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 6.3 
 
 which he afterwards pronounced to be subordinate, as 
 possessing the highest claims to excellence. 
 
 That Reynolds had not the feeling to appreciate 
 the noble productions of the Vatican, when he came 
 to be acquainted with the principles upon which they 
 found their claims to admiration, is disproved by his 
 subsequent opinion of them, by the influence which 
 they had upon his style, and by the earnestness with 
 which he recommends them to the constant attention 
 of the student. 
 
 It was not the grandeur and simplicity of these 
 performances which paralysed the feelings and the 
 judgment of the English painter, but the medium 
 through which they were conveyed to his eye, that 
 at first sight prevented their effect upon his mind. 
 He did not find them adorned with the splendour of 
 colour, and robed in the majesty of Rembrandt's light 
 and shade. Their first effect upon the eye was too 
 weak to excite the strong feeling of admiration which 
 he came prepared to indulge in, and which they are 
 so truly calculated to excite, when viewed with refer- 
 ence to the dignity and sentiment displayed in them. 
 He viewed them simply as pictures, and found them 
 deficient in qualities, which he had been accustomed 
 to consider as most essential to the perfection of a fine 
 work of art — the attractions of colour and light and 
 shade ; perhaps, also, those of texture and painter- 
 like execution, of which he had already begun to feel 
 the beauties, and which he afterwards laboured so 
 successfully to acquire in the works which he has left 
 us to delight in. 
 
 He has since expressed a doubt whether these quali- 
 fications are consistent with the dignity of historic or 
 poetic compositions, as embodied in the grand style 
 of art, and seems inclined to the belief that they would 
 
 vot. i. p 
 
66 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 rather diminish than increase the importance of works 
 of such description. The painter who could best have 
 united all the qualities of the art was Titian; and he 
 had, for the most part, too little of the imagination of 
 RafFaelle to afford us so desirable an union of perfec- 
 tions. Yet if so much sublimity has been given by- 
 colour, with comparatively little assistance from design, 
 and light and shade, to the picture of Peter the Martyr, 
 we may perhaps found a hope of the possibility of greater 
 success in an union of the qualities of Raphael and 
 Titian, when exerted on subjects of a more extended 
 and higher description, if human nature be capable of 
 uniting them. 
 
 The dignified solemnity and highly impressive cha- 
 racter of this performance depend almost exclusively 
 upon the powers of colour, for the light and shade, or 
 rather light and dark, of the picture result from local 
 colour only, and the action, expression, and design of 
 the figures, however well conceived and executed, are 
 but secondary in contributing to the wonderful effect 
 of the whole. The genius of colour has succeeded in 
 exciting the emotions of pity and terror, which it is 
 thought to have been the peculiar gift of design to call 
 forth exclusively from the spectator; and the feeling 
 so created is by no means inferior to any which Raf- 
 faelle or Michel Angelo have excited by the powers 
 in which they excelled.* 
 
 It must, however, be recollected that in speaking of 
 Venetian art generally, as contrasted with that of the 
 Roman and Florentine schools, Sir Joshua does not 
 
 * The Cain and Abel, the Abraham and Isaac, and the David 
 and Goliath, afford ample proofs of Titian's power of design, 
 ■when inspired by the genius of the Roman school ; but they are 
 unfortunately so much injured by the damp that their effect of 
 colour, though still admirable, is widely different from that which 
 they presented originally. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 67 
 
 include Titian in the list of those painters who have 
 devoted themselves to what he terms the ornamental, 
 or florid, style of painting ; and we are led to infer that 
 he considers the best works of this master as consistent, 
 in point of colour, with the sublimity of intellectual 
 art.* 
 
 " Having since that period," continues Sir Joshua, 
 "frequently revolved the subject in my mind, I am 
 now clearly of opinion that a relish for the higher ex- 
 cellences of the art is an acquired taste, which no 
 man ever possessed without long cultivation and great 
 labour and attention. 
 
 " On such occasions as that which I have mentioned, 
 we are often ashamed of our apparent dulness ; as if 
 it were expected that our minds, like tinder, should 
 
 * For my own part," observes Keynolds, " when I speak of 
 the Venetian painters, I wish to be understood to mean Paolo 
 V eronese and Tintonet, to the exclusion of Titian ; for though 
 his style is not so pure as that of many other of the Italian schools 
 yet there is a sort of senatorial dignity about him, which, however 
 awkward in his imitators, seems to become him exceedingly His 
 portraits alone, from the nobleness and simplicity of character 
 which he gave them, will entitle him to the greatest respect, as he 
 undoubtedly stands in the first rank in this branch of the art."— 
 Discourse iv. 
 
 Again, " It is to Titian we must turn our eyes to find excellence 
 with regard to colour and light and shade in the highest degree 
 He was both the first and the greatest master of this" art." 
 
 " Raffaelle and Titian are two names which stand the highest 
 in our art ; one for drawing, the other for painting." 
 
 " Raffaelle and Titian seemed to have looked at nature for 
 different purposes ; they both had the power of extending their 
 view to the whole ; the one looked only for the general effect 
 as produced by form, the other as produced by colour."— 
 Discourse xi. 
 
 We may add, what Sir Joshua has often remarked in other 
 parts of his discourses, that sublimity, whether in colour or de- 
 sign, depends upon the power of generalising ; and it is chiefly to 
 the judicious exercise of this power that Titian is indebted for his 
 great superiority. 
 
 F 2 
 
63 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 instantly catch fire from the divine spark of Raphael's 
 genius/ I flatter myself that now it would be so, and 
 that I have a just and lively perception of his great 
 powers; but let it be remembered that the excellence 
 of his style is not on the surface, but lies deep, and at 
 the first view is seen but mistily. It is the florid style 
 which strikes at once, and captivates the eye, for a time, 
 without ever satisfying the judgment. Nor does paint- 
 ing in this respect differ from other arts. A just and 
 poetical taste and the acquisition of a nice discrimi- 
 native musical ear are equally the work of time. Even 
 the eye, however perfect in itself, is often unable to 
 distinguish between the brilliancy of two diamonds, 
 though the experienced jeweller will be amazed at its 
 blindness ; not considering that there was a time when 
 he himself could not have been able to pronounce 
 which of the two was the most perfect, and that his 
 own power of discrimination was acquired by slow and 
 imperceptible degrees." 
 
 These remarks have been combated on the grounds 
 that "true art is nature exalted and refined, but it is 
 nature still ;" and as the beauties of nature require only 
 to be seen in order to be properly appreciated, so 
 those of art, being identified with them, may be judged 
 of, intuitively and correctly, without the necessity of 
 any previous education to regulate the judgment of 
 the spectator. 
 
 But we cannot agree that the beauties of nature 
 require only to be seen m order to be felt, for we 
 ourselves have known many who were not only inca- 
 pable of appreciating them, but even of perceiving 
 them when pointed out; and on occasions where ad- 
 miration is really excited by the contemplation of 
 objects in nature, if he who expresses it for that 
 which, in his estimation, is characterised by sublimity 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 60 
 
 or beauty, should be ignorant of the causes which 
 produce these qualities, he has no sufficient standard 
 by which to judge of the correctness of his feelings, 
 and may often be mistaken in the estimate which he 
 has formed of the objects contemplated. 
 
 He who looks, with the eye of a painter, over an 
 extensive tract of cultivated ground, lighted up with 
 the brilliant or the glowing tints of sunshine, and rich 
 in harmonious variety of colour, diversified by pleasing 
 masses of shade, will view it with feelings of a very dif- 
 ferent nature from those which it woidd suggest under 
 similar circumstances to the labourer, the farmer, or 
 the squire. They could not feel the beauties which 
 he would delight in, and he could not participate in 
 those of their creation. The " lofty mountain" would 
 be estimated by the ordinary observer, simply in pro- 
 portion to its height, without reference to the gran- 
 deur or the beauty of its form, to its advantages of 
 colour, or solemnity of light and shade ; " the mighty 
 sea," by its power of doing mischief, and " the troubled 
 sky," unless announcing a storm, which might be dan- 
 gerous or inconvenient in its consequences, would 
 probably excite no emotion at all. It seems to us that 
 he who really can appreciate sublimity or beauty 
 has already acquired, from whatever sources, the true 
 feeling of a painter or a poet ; and if they who main- 
 tain a contrary position be at any time properly affected 
 by the contemplation of objects in nature, which are 
 calculated to excite sublimity or beauty, thev may rea- 
 sonably be congratulated on the acquisition of more than 
 they are themselves aware of. 
 
 If true art, as we freely allow, be nature exalted and 
 refined, the painter must first understand the prin- 
 ciples by which it is refined and exalted, before he 
 can apply them, with adequate effect, in a tasteful or 
 
70 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 dignified representation of it. These principles are 
 founded upon general views of nature, and not upon 
 any particular or accidental appearance of it ; and he 
 who has not been accustomed to generalise will not 
 only be incapable of putting them in practice, but 
 unable, at first, to comprehend them. 
 
 It was thus with Sir Joshua Reynolds : he had 
 looked at nature only with a view of representing that 
 which he saw before him, and had never thought of 
 superadding ideal excellence to that which his limited 
 observation suggested to him. To give a character of 
 general interest to individual nature, without sacri- 
 ficing any of its important peculiarities, is the most 
 arduous task of a portrait-painter ; and Reynolds, after 
 studying the works of Raffaelle, and making himself 
 master of his generalising principles, was enabled to 
 accomplish this object; which it is probable that he 
 would never have contemplated if he had not enlarged 
 his conception of art, and his views of nature, in the 
 Vatican. 
 
 The principles which are applicable to character 
 and expression may be equally applied to the general 
 outline of objects, and are essential to its grace or its 
 dignity : they extend to the tones and local colouring 
 of a picture, to the fight and shadow of each object 
 separately, as well as to the arrangement of the masses 
 of light and shade which give the general effect of the 
 whole : there is nothing, in fact, which is uninfluenced 
 bv them in any part of a fine work of art ; and nature, 
 without generalising principles to regulate it, would be 
 useless to the artist who aims at producing even a mode- 
 rately well-conducted picture. 
 
 Some of these general principles are acquired in the 
 course of practice by artists of common observation : 
 bat those on which the higher views of art depend 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 71 
 
 require the mind of the painter to be elevated to the 
 standard of ideal perfection ; and it is here that the 
 study of abstract principles is more imperatively ne- 
 cessary. Michel Angelo, Raffaelle, and Titian, have 
 carried them farther than any in the loftier ranges of 
 art, and Reynolds, in his own peculiar department, has 
 no competitor but Titian to contend with, whom, indeec. 
 he has frequently surpassed. 
 
 The minds of Michel Angelo and Raffaelle were 
 formed on the study of Grecian sculpture, and they 
 took the views of nature, adapted to their peculiar 
 dispositions, which the works of the ancients presented 
 to them. Sir Joshua Reynolds had not this advan- 
 tage : but he analysed the principles which he observed 
 in the works of these two great masters, and which 
 had previously been wholly unknown to him ; and by 
 his power of just discrimination, assisted by native, per- 
 haps we may say by early acquired, good feeling, he 
 formed the style which he applied to the practice of his 
 art on the basis which they had erected for him. 
 
 That a taste for true excellence is the gift of nature, 
 we repeat that we cannot persuade ourselves to imagine ; 
 and if we admit that some .are gifted with the capacity 
 of acquiring it much sooner than others, and that many 
 appear to be disqualified by nature from ever acquiring 
 it at all, we think that farther concession on this point 
 cannot with reason be expected. 
 
 If the suggestions of nature were found to be inva- 
 riably infallible, we should then, indeed, have reason to 
 put implicit faith in them : but we know from experience 
 that most of them are rather the results of ignorance 
 than of sound discrimination ; and if all our independ- 
 ent or unacquired feelings must be received as the 
 gifts of nature, and on that account pronounced to be 
 infallible, we shall have the same authority for ridi- 
 f 4 
 
72 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 culous fancies as for the most unerring conclusions, 
 and taste and caprice will have equal pretensions to 
 orthodoxy . 
 
 In the absence of some definite standard by which 
 to judge of the propriety of our feelings, we must take 
 our ideas on trust, and leave it to be determined by 
 experience whether they may chance to be true or 
 false ; and the result of such a system would probably 
 be that we should spend a whole life in the pursuit of 
 knowledge which a few years, perhaps, would suffice 
 to attain, or which it might happen that we should never 
 acquire at all. 
 
 Reynolds had the good sense to doubt the correct- 
 ness of those impressions which a first view of Roman 
 art suggested to his inexperienced mind. He submitted 
 them to the test of laborious examination, and found 
 them eventually to be wrong. Yet it was not that he 
 actually thought differently from Raphael in his estimate 
 of the causes of true dignity in art ; but that he had 
 hitherto been accustomed to take nature as he found 
 it, and had not yet attempted to raise its ordinary scale 
 from individuality, or accidental appearance, to that of 
 ideal perfection, founded on a more comprehensive view 
 of it than he had ever contemplated the existence of : 
 his reading of nature had been limited, and the epic of 
 his art was unknown to him. 
 
 He had to search for feelings which had never been 
 excited ; to ruminate on the value of beauties which, 
 till then, had escaped his notice,— beauties which were 
 not so much in decided opposition to those which he 
 had previously admitted and appreciated, as they were 
 higher in quality, and dependent on other causes for 
 their value. 
 
 When Sir Joshua asserted that " a relish for the 
 higher excellences of art is an acquired taste which 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 73 
 
 no man ever possessed without long cultivation, and 
 great labour and attention," he was himself an admir- 
 able example of the truth of what he advanced ; and 
 had never been able to discover the individual, or to 
 hear of his existence through others, who had confessed 
 and appreciated the merit of Raffaelle without much 
 previous study of his works, or of others which were 
 founded on the same principles as those which that 
 great master adopted. We have no reason to doubt 
 his sincerity ; and till others can prove, on better grounds 
 than have yet been advanced, that good taste is the 
 offspring of chance, we have no sufficient cause to doubt 
 the truth of his assertion. 
 
 " The man of true genius," continues Sir Joshua, 
 " instead of spending all his hours, as many artists 
 do while they are at Rome, in measuring statues and 
 copying pictures, soon begins to think for himself, and 
 endeavours to do something like what he sees. I 
 consider general copying," he adds, "as a delusive 
 kind of industry : the student satisfies himself with the 
 appearance of doing something : he falls into the 
 dangerous habit of imitating without selecting, and 
 labouring without a determinate object : as it requires 
 no effort of the mind, he sleeps over his work ; and 
 those powers of invention and disposition which ought 
 particularly to be called out and put into action he 
 torpid, and lose their energy for want of exercise. How 
 incapable of producing anything of their own those are 
 who have spent most of their time in making finished 
 copies, is an observation well known to all those who are 
 conversant with our art."* 
 
 * " Of the few copies -which Reynolds made while at Rome, two 
 are now," says Malone, " in the possession of the Earl of Inchi- 
 quin, who married his niece, Miss Palmer,— St. Michael the 
 Archangel slaying the Dragon, after Guido, and the School of 
 Athens, from Ralfaelle, — both admirable performances." 
 
74 
 
 MEMOIR CF 
 
 " From contemplating the works of Titian, Coreggio, 
 &c," he says in another of his fragments, " we derive 
 this great advantage, — we learn that certain niceties of 
 expression are capable of being executed, which other- 
 wise we might consider as beyond the reach of art ; this 
 inspires with some degree of confidence, and we are 
 thus excited to endeavour at other excellences in the 
 same line." 
 
 " Some account of Reynolds's particular practice 
 and habits of study while he was in Italy is, I know," 
 observes Mr. Malone, " much desired by several artists 
 of the present day, but these I have no means of in- 
 vestigating. The method which he employed while 
 at Venice, in order to ascertain the principles on 
 which the great masters of colouring wrought, and to 
 attain the true management of light and shade, he has 
 himself particularly mentioned in a note on Du Fres- 
 noy's poem." 
 
 We may, however, collect, from what we know of 
 the method of study, as well as from the writings of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, that it was chiefly to the habit 
 of reasoning upon what he observed in the works of 
 the ancient masters, with a view of establishing fixed 
 and definite principles for the regulation of his future 
 practice, that he was indebted for the extensive mass of 
 general information which he had evidently acquired 
 on the subject of his art. 
 
 In the works which he contemplated he studied the 
 mind rather than the peculiarities of the painter, and 
 endeavoured to think as the great masters thought, 
 rather than to imitate their mode of expressing them- 
 selves. 
 
 When by frequent and laborious observation and 
 comparison he had formed his own idea of what true 
 art consisted in, he had recourse to nature herself. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 75 
 
 who, as he remarks, " is always at hand, and in com- 
 parison of whose true splendour the best coloured pic- 
 tures are but faint and feeble." 
 
 " The artist," he observes, " who has his mind 
 filled with ideas, and his hand made expert by practice, 
 works with ease and readiness ; whilst he who would 
 have you believe that he is waiting for the inspirations 
 of genius is in reality at a loss how to begin, and is at 
 last delivered of his monsters with difficulty and pain. 
 The well grounded painter, on the contrary, has onlv 
 maturely to consider his subject, and all the mechanical 
 parts of his art will follow without his exertion." 
 
 The mode of study which Sir Joshua adopted him- 
 self he continually recommends to the students. 
 
 " Instead of copying the touches of those great 
 masters, copy only their conceptions : instead of tread- 
 ing in their footsteps, endeavour only to keep the same 
 road ; labour to invent on their general principles and 
 way of thinking ; possess yourself with their spirit ; 
 consider with yourself how a Michel Angelo or a 
 Raffaelle would have treated this subject, and work 
 yourself into a belief that your picture is to be seen 
 and criticised by them when completed ; even an at- 
 tempt of this kind will rouse your powers." 
 
 " But as mere enthusiasm will carry you but a little 
 way, let me recommend a practice that may be equiva- 
 lent to, and will, perhaps, more efficaciously contribute 
 to your advancement than even the verbal corrections 
 of those matters themselves, could they be obtained : 
 what I propose is, that you should enter into a kind of 
 competition, by painting a similar subject, and making a 
 companion to any picture that you consider as a model. 
 After you have finished your work, place it near the 
 model, and compare them carefully together : you will 
 then not only see but feel your own deficiencies more 
 
76 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sensibly than by precepts or any other means of instruc- 
 tion. The true principles of painting will mingle with 
 vour thoughts. Ideas .thus fixed by sensible objects 
 will be certain and definitive ; and, sinking deep into 
 the mind, will not only be more just but more lasting 
 than those presented to you by precepts only, which 
 will always be fleeting, variable, and undetermined." 
 
 " We all must have experienced how lazily, and 
 consequently, how ineffectually, instruction is received 
 when forced upon the mind by others. Few have been 
 taught to any purpose who have not been their own 
 teachers. We prefer those instructions which we have 
 given ourselves from our affection to the instructor ; 
 and they are more effectual from being received into 
 the mind at the very time when it is most open to 
 receive them." 
 
 "A painter should form his rules from pictures 
 rather than from books or precepts : rules were first 
 made from pictures, not pictures from rules. Every 
 picture an artist sees, whether the most excellent or 
 the most ordinary, he should consider from whence 
 that fine effect or that ill effect proceeds ; and then 
 there is no picture ever so indifferent but he may look 
 at to his profit." 
 
 We may glean from the spirit of these observations 
 the nature of the method of study which Reynolds 
 considered to be the most efficacious. He was evidently 
 of opinion that the whole power of the mind should be 
 kept in constant action; and that the mechanical parts 
 of the art, though necessary for the expression of the 
 more intellectual ones, should always be secondary 
 considerations. That more can be learned from study- 
 ing the mind of the painter whom we take as a model 
 than by copying any number of his pictures, and that 
 unless what we acquire from him can be reduced to 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 77 
 
 fixed principles, so as to be rendered available on all 
 occasions, we have not studied bis works with good 
 effect. 
 
 At the same time it is evident that while he studied 
 the principles he did not neglect the executive parts 
 of the art, so far as his previous education, in which 
 we have already observed that design was much neg- 
 lected, would enable him to acquire them. It was too 
 late in life to commence academical studies without 
 losing much valuable time ; and as he had already made 
 considerable progress in portraiture, he judged it more 
 expedient, as well as more practicable, to endeavour 
 to perfect himself in that branch of the art rather than 
 to engage in another for the study of which he was 
 wholly unprepared. 
 
 Here the power and the energy of his mind were 
 displayed with unexampled effect : he could not, under 
 existing circumstances, enter the lists with Michel 
 Angelo and Raphael in their own comprehensive de- 
 partments, but he formed the bold idea of applying 
 the principles by which those great masters acquired 
 immortality, to the elevation of his own branch of 
 painting, and determined to infuse the spirit of intel- 
 lectual art into the representations of individual 
 nature. 
 
 He has proved himself equal to the task which his 
 sound discrimination and indefatigable perseverance 
 enabled him to conceive and to execute, and has given 
 a higher interest and a more extended range to por- 
 traiture than any of the greatest masters who preceded 
 him. 
 
 Having formed his noble project, he applied himself 
 diligently to collect the materials for its accomplish- 
 ment : he not only studied the means of giving dignity 
 and expression to his heads, without sacrificing the 
 
78 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 characteristic peculiarities of his sitters, but the princi- 
 ples also by which those distinctions might be placed in 
 the strongest and most effective points of view. 
 
 Where the power of design was most essential to his 
 object, he acquired it in an admirable degree, and no 
 painter ever drew the head with more taste and decision 
 than Reynolds. 
 
 In the works of Titian, and Corregio, and occasionally 
 in those of Velasquez, he studied the principles of colour 
 and light and shade which the Roman school could not 
 afford him, and in these points still adhered to the gene- 
 ralising principles which Raffaelle and Michel Angelo 
 applied to design. He has thus been very frequently 
 enabled to give a character of interest to his subjects 
 Avhere design was unable to supply it, and materially to 
 increase the interest of such as design had already made 
 attractive. 
 
 In the air of his figures, the character of his dra- 
 peries, the arrangement of his back-grounds, and the 
 general disposition of his pictures, he still kept in view 
 the great object of his laborious researches, and ap- 
 plied the same principles to regulate them which had 
 influenced other parts of his practice. He never turned 
 aside from the broad path to excellence, which the 
 works of the great masters first pointed out to him, to 
 loiter in the mazes where others have bewildered 
 themselves, who knew not the value of time, or the 
 importance of genuine art. We know not whether 
 most to admire his perseverance, or the greatness of 
 the objects to which it was directed ; and when we are 
 told that he has left but few memorials of the manner 
 in which he employed his time in Italy, we overlook the 
 great mass of dignified and comprehensive art which 
 displays to us so clearly, in the subsequent works of 
 his pencil, the objects to which his study of the works 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 7D 
 
 which he saw there was directed, and the means which 
 he took to accomplish them. 
 
 If more had been essential it would not have been 
 wanting : but the employment of the mind, rather than 
 of the hand, was that by which Reynolds profited in 
 Italy ; for he was sufficiently advanced in the executive 
 parts of the art before he applied himself so closely to 
 its theory, and he did not think the practice of copy- 
 ing was necessary for any other purpose than that of 
 acquiring a facility of execution, and a certain degree 
 of confidence in colouring. 
 
 It has occasionally been remarked that Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds devoted himself to one fine of practice, and 
 recommended another to the students in his dis- 
 courses ; that he was loud in the praises of Michel 
 Angelo and Raphael, the great founders of historical 
 art, and was himself content to labour in an humble 
 department which had but little alliance with the ob- 
 ject of his urgent recommendation ; that he carried 
 on a sort of manufactory of faces by which he gained 
 a considerable income, and exhorted young artists to 
 waste their time and their means in the pursuit of 
 chimerical excellence, and in the practice of a de- 
 partment of art uncongenial with the taste of the 
 country, by which they must necessarily starve ; that 
 many a good painter of domestic life, who might have 
 gained wealth and fame in the style of art which 
 was patronised, became the victim to Sir Joshua's ill- 
 judged observations, and spent a wretched fife in 
 painting bad historical pictures instead of following 
 the natural bent of his own inclination and the cur- 
 rent of the national taste : that he lavished instruction 
 with a liberal hand where it tended to forward a neg- 
 lected and unprofitable department of painting, and 
 withheld from the student the mysteries of portraiture, 
 
so 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and the secrets by which he himself acquired excel- 
 lence in the practice of a lucrative profession. 
 
 Of all the charges which have been brought against 
 the talented and liberal-minded artist who released us 
 from the shackles of gothicism, and laid the foundations 
 of that school of art which now stands the highest 
 in Europe, we think these are the most inconsistent. 
 If any man had reason to speak in praise of intel- 
 lectual art, to which he owed his fame and his fortune, 
 it surely was Sir Joshua Reynolds ; and if any school 
 of painting ever needed such instruction as the advocate 
 for Roman art is charged with instilling, it was certainly 
 that of Kneller, and Jervais, and Hudson. 
 
 That Reynolds was the champion of qualities in art 
 which did not influence his peculiar department of 
 painting, and which cannot be successfully employed 
 in the comparatively inferior ranges of the profession, 
 appears to us inconsistent with fact ; and when we look 
 at what he painted before he went to Italy, and 
 compare his works of that period with his subsequent 
 productions, there are ample grounds for judging that 
 it is so. We could not doubt the sources whence he drew 
 the magic power which converted the pupil of Hudson 
 into the successful competitor of Titian and Velasquez, 
 and the victor of Rubens and Vandyke, when viewed 
 as his opponents in portraiture or in the dignified 
 simplicity of general art, if he had even neglected 
 to unveil them in his writings. It is by no means in- 
 cumbent on those who form their taste on the works of 
 Michel Angelo and Raffaelle to devote themselves 
 exclusively to that style of art in which those great 
 masters excelled ; and it is clear that the expansion of 
 mind which must result from a diligent and well- 
 directed study of them will enable the painter to add 
 greater interest, greater power, and greater originality, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 81 
 
 to subjects of limited importance than less extended 
 views of his professional resources could enable him to 
 dream of attempting. 
 
 But, to take other grounds — if the vain or the 
 unthinking student should mistake the proper range of 
 his capacity, experience will shortly convince him of 
 his error ; and if it should even fail to do so, there is 
 no sufficient reason why those of greater powers should 
 be debarred from the means of instruction which his 
 weakness prevented him from turning to advantage. 
 As president of the Royal Academy, it was the duty 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds to give the preference to the 
 highest style of art ; and, so far from being wrong in 
 adopting such a course, he would have been culpable 
 in omitting to do so ; especially as that department 
 had been so little cultivated in England, and was 
 more necessary than any other for the reformation of 
 the miserable taste which had grown up and prospered 
 in the hands of his predecessors. But he did not urge 
 the practice of historical painting so much as the 
 principles by which it is best regulated; knowing, as 
 he did, that those principles were more or less 
 applicable to every department of the art, and that 
 none could be injured by learning to divest themselves 
 of erroneous and contracted views of their profession.* 
 
 * That Sir Joshua did not recommend indiscriminately the 
 study of the grand style of art, we mean that he did not urge 
 every student to undertake the highest departments of painting, 
 the following observations will suffice to convince us : — ■ 
 
 " I wish you to understand that I do not discourage the younger 
 students from the noble attempt of uniting all the excellences of 
 art; but suggest to them, that, besides ifie difficulties which 
 attend every arduous attempt, there is a peculiar difficulty in the 
 choice of the excellences which ought to be united. I wish you 
 to attend to this, that you may try yourselves, whenever you are 
 capable of that trial, what you can, and what you cannot do ; 
 and that, instead of dissipating your natural faculties, over the 
 immense field of possible excellence, you may choose some par- 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 We cannot ourselves perceive the advantage which the 
 English school of painting would have derived from Sir 
 Joshua's instructions, if, instead of recommending what 
 it was desirable that it should acquire, he had fostered 
 the failings of national prejudice, and taken no steps to 
 amend them. 
 
 When Reynolds first began to distinguish himself, 
 he had to contend with a strongly rooted prejudice in 
 favour of the tasteless and degraded style of art which 
 had flourished under the disciples of Kneller, and with 
 which he was not himself untainted before he enlarged 
 his conceptions in Italy. But the power of true art 
 eventually prevailed ; and the vitiated taste of the public 
 rose in proportion to the efforts which he made to create 
 a better feeling by the works of his pencil. 
 
 It was not the taste of the age that called forth the 
 genius of Michel Angelo or of Raphael ; it was the 
 power of their exertions in the pursuit of superior 
 excellence which raised the character of the national 
 feeling, and formed the taste which appreciated the 
 value of their labours. 
 
 If we conclude that there is little taste in England 
 for works of an elevated character it is assuredly in- 
 cumbent on the head of a public institution, which 
 professes to encourage and promote the higher depart- 
 ments of the art, to endeavour to raise the popular 
 standard, and to point out the value of that excellence 
 which may uave failed to meet with proper encourage - 
 
 ticular walk in which you may exercise all your powers, in order 
 that each of you may become the first in his way. 
 
 " If any man shall be master of such a transcendent, command- 
 ing, and ductile genius as to enable him to rise to the highest and 
 to stoop to the lowest flights of art, and to sweep over all of them 
 unobstructed and secure, he is filter to give example than to 
 receive instruction." — Discourse v. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 83 
 
 ment. It is his duty to stimulate the rising generation 
 to prove by their works that they are capable of ex- 
 celling in a pursuit which is deserving of national 
 encouragement, and to show that it is not in the in- 
 capacity of the painter that we must look for the cause 
 of the alleged neglect. To say that the attempt is 
 an arduous one is certainly an excuse for not making 
 it, but not a sufficient justification. Important results 
 are but seldom obtained without great and continued ex- 
 ertions ; and till these have been made, and steadily perse- 
 vered in without any obvious effect, there are no sufficient 
 grounds for despair. 
 
 There will always be instances of bad taste and feel- 
 ing among those who are unacquainted with genuine 
 art : but we do not ourselves believe in the existence 
 of a national prejudice against historical painting in 
 England ; and we think that the want of encourage- 
 ment under which it has too often laboured must be 
 attributed to other causes than those of public incapacity 
 to appreciate it. 
 
 The works of Reynolds did much to improve the 
 public taste, and their beauties will continue to 
 operate upon it while time and bad picture- cleaners 
 spare them : but the foundation of the Royal Academy 
 was the most important step which had been taken for 
 the advancement of historical art ; and Sir Joshua was 
 called upon by the duties of his office to assist in giving 
 the necessary stimulus to exertions which might be 
 calculated to advance it still farther : his discourses 
 are admirably adapted to give the impulse to art and 
 public feeling which was wanting, and the works of 
 his pen have been perhaps as effectual as those of his 
 elegant pencil, Public taste, we repeat, has been' con- 
 siderably improved by the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds ; 
 and as it has shown itself on many recent occasions fully 
 g 2 
 
84 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 capable of appreciating intellectual art, so we doubt 
 not, if the artist persevere in his exertions, that they 
 will be estimated in proportion to the advances which he 
 makes. 
 
 With respect to the mysteries of portrait painting, 
 which Reynolds is accused of withholding from the 
 students, and the secrets by which he himself acquired 
 wealth and rose to eminence in his profession, they are 
 those very principles which he is charged with instil- 
 ling into the humble painters of domestic life, who 
 might, but for them, it is presumed, have made their 
 fortunes by working only to the level of the national 
 taste. They are the mysteries of Raphael, of Titian, and 
 Correggio, and the secrets of observation, comparison, 
 and labour, which Reynolds employed to unravel them. 
 Till the art of excelling, as Sir Joshua did in por- 
 traiture, shall be found to depend upon a species of 
 juggling, there will be no other secrets by which a 
 painter can rise to that high degree of excellence in art 
 which he attained. 
 
 The trickeries of art, if we may use the expression, 
 and there are means of such a description in painting, 
 and Reynolds has frequently employed them, will 
 never advance the artist a step in the more important 
 parts of his profession. If Sir Joshua directed the 
 student to the sources from which he himself derived 
 excellence, it cannot be said that he withheld from them 
 the means by which he was enabled to acquire it ; and 
 that he did so direct them, to the best of his ability, 
 the perusal of his admirable discourses will be fully 
 sufficient to prove. He knew from experience that 
 the mechanical intricacies of painting would be ac- 
 quired in the course of practice ; and his great object 
 was to turn the mind of the student to the acquisition 
 of excellencies of art which a limited view of its re- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 85 
 
 sources would never enable him to attain. He consi- 
 dered that a careful and diligent study of the works of 
 the greatest masters was the most effectual, as well as 
 the shortest, method of accomphshing the object pro- 
 posed to them ; and he explained to them clearly and 
 repeatedly how this mode of study could be pursued with 
 the greatest facility and advantage. 
 
 In his last discourse he confesses, with the unaf- 
 fected modesty of merit, how unequal he had been to 
 the expression of his own ideas : "to this work, how- 
 ever," he adds, " I could not be said to come totallv 
 unprovided with materials ; I had seen much, and I 
 had thought much upon what I had seen ; I had some- 
 thing of a habit of investigation, and a disposition to 
 reduce all that I had observed and felt in my own 
 mind to method and system; but I thought it in- 
 dispensably necessary well to consider the opinions 
 which were to be given out from this place, and under 
 the sanction of a Royal Academy ; I therefore exa- 
 mined not only my own opinions, but likewise the 
 opinions of others." 
 
 " I n reviewing my discourses, it is no small satisfac- 
 tion to be assured, that I have in no part of them lent 
 my assistance to foster newly -hatched, unfledged opi- 
 nions, or endeavoured to support paradoxes, however 
 tempting may have been their novelty, or however in- 
 genious I might, for the minute, fancy them to be ; nor 
 shall I, I hope, any where be found to have imposed 
 on the minds of young students declamation for argu- 
 ment, a smooth period for a sound precept. I have 
 pursued a plain and honest method; I have taken up 
 the art simply as I found it exemplified in the practice of 
 the most approved painters. That approbation which 
 the world has uniformly given, I have endeavoured to 
 justify by such proofs as questions of this kind will 
 
 G 3 
 
86 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 admit ; by the analogy which painting holds with the 
 sister arts, and consequently by the common conge- 
 niality which they all bear to our nature. And 
 though in what has been done no new discovery is 
 pretended, I may still natter myself, that from the 
 discoveries which others have made from their own 
 intuitive good sense and native rectitude of judgment," 
 in allusion to the works of the old masters, " I have 
 succeeded in establishing the rules and principles of 
 our art on a more firm and lasting foundation than that 
 on which they had formerly been placed." 
 
 With this mode of instruction, brought forward and 
 delivered on the authority of such an artist as Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, we confess that we are perfectly 
 satisfied; and we think that when it is calmly and 
 fairly weighed, it will be equally satisfactory to others. 
 If any man were competent to decide upon the method 
 of study most conducive to the advancement of students 
 in painting, it was surely the artist who pretended to 
 no inspiration, and had risen from comparative me- 
 diocrity to excellence by the judgment with which he 
 instructed himself. The critic in art may doubt his 
 capacity for the task, or the sincerity with which he 
 delivers his opinions, without incurring any other risk 
 than that of being thought very singular; but the 
 artist who has not yet determined on his method of 
 study, and is ambitious of acquiring distinction in his 
 profession, cannot slight the well-considered observa- 
 tions of Reynolds without incurring great danger of 
 never succeeding in the object of his youthful ambition. 
 
 The following observations which Northcote had 
 seen in Sir Joshua's own handwriting, and which 
 appear to be written while at Rome as hints for his 
 future practice, may not be uninteresting or unprofit- 
 able to young artists, and will serve to prove that, while 
 
Sill JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 57 
 
 diligently employed in cultivating the higher excellences 
 of his art, Reynolds did not neglect its details. 
 
 " The Leda in the Colonna palace, by Correggio, is 
 dead-coloured white, and black or ultramarine in the 
 shadows ; and over that is scumbled, thinly and smooth, 
 a wanner tint, I believe caput mortuum. The lights 
 are mellow, the shadows bluish but mellow. The 
 picture is painted on a panel in a broad and large 
 manner, but finished like an enamel : the shadows 
 harmonise and are lost in the ground. 
 
 " The Ecce Homo of Correggio in the same palace. 
 The shadows are entirely lost in the ground; perhaps 
 more so by time than they were at first. 
 
 " The Adonis of Titian in the Colonna palace is 
 dead coloured white, with the muscles marked bold : 
 the second painting he scumbled a light colour over it ; 
 the fights a mellow flesh- colour ; the shadows, in the 
 light parts, of a faint purple hue ; at least they were so 
 at first. That purple hue seems to be occasioned by 
 blackish shadows under*, and the colour scumbled 
 over them. 
 
 " I copied the Titian in the Colonna collection with 
 white, umber, minio, cinnabar, black ; the shadows thin 
 of colour." Perhaps little more than the dark ground 
 left. 
 
 " In respect to painting the flesh tint, after it has 
 been finished with very strong colours, such as ultra- 
 marine and carmine, pass white over it, very thin with 
 oil. I believe it will have a wonderful effect. 
 
 " Or paint carnation too red, and then scumble it over 
 with white and black. 
 
 * Probably a dark red ground, -which Titian frequently em- 
 ployed ; and which in showing itself through a white preparation, 
 as above stated, would take the hue alluded to. Such a ground 
 is afterwards mentioned as having been employed by Foussin. 
 G4 
 
88 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Then," he adds, *' dead colour with white and 
 black only ; at the second sitting, carnation. (To wit, 
 the Barocci at the palace Albani. and Correggio in 
 the Pamphili.)* 
 
 * All these modes of preparation were afterwards employed by 
 Sir Joshua, who generally made out his shapes, as well as the 
 light and shadow of his heads, in little more than blue black, 
 and white, or lake, blue-black and white (sometimes lake and 
 white only), using always in this stage of the picture a good 
 body of colour ; over this, when dry, he scumbled yellow ochre 
 and white, or umber and white, sometimes orpiment and white, 
 very thin, and on that retouched his features and tinted the cheeks 
 and other parts of the head which might require it with brighter 
 and more decided colour ; a slight glaze, little more than the 
 varnish, completed his work. 
 
 Sometimes, instead of scumbling, he employed glazing, with 
 red-lead or vermilion, which, being passed thinly over his white 
 preparation, gave considerable power to the local colour of his 
 head ; in this he painted thinly with ultramarine and white, and 
 orpiment or yellow ochre and white, tinting in parts with car- 
 mine, and finished with a thin glaze of asphaltum, at that time 
 called Jew's pitch. 
 
 Occasionally, he allowed his first glaze to dry, and then painted 
 thinly over it with orpiment and white ultramarine and white, 
 and vermilion, or carmine, and white ; but always allowing the 
 colour underneath to appear, more or less, through whatever he 
 passed over it. 
 
 In very many of his pictures, which have been injudiciously 
 cleaned, the first preparation is all that now remains ; and in 
 some cases, his glazing tints, and other colours, have changed or 
 disappeared altogether, owing to his indiscriminate use of perish- 
 able materials, for he was a very indifferent chemist. 
 
 The cracking of his pictures is chiefly occasioned by painting 
 over his preparation before it was thoroughly dry, or by using 
 materials on the surface of his pictures which dried harder than 
 those employed underneath. 
 
 Dark colours, and particularly those which are transparent, 
 will generally open in large cracks when laid on very thickly, 
 or employed with much vehicle ; and this was frequently the 
 case in Sir Joshua's pictures, whose dark backgrounds, hair, and 
 draperies were often painted with a considerable body of colour. 
 In Reynolds's memoranda of December, 1755, we find the fol- 
 lowing record of the colours which he then made use of, and of 
 the order in which they were arranged on his pallet : — 
 
 " For painting the flesh : — black, blue-black, white, lake, car- 
 mine, orpiment, yellow ochre, ultramarine, and varnish. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 89 
 
 " Poussin's landscapes in the Verossi palace are 
 painted on a dark ground made of Indian red and black. 
 
 " To lay the pallet : first, lay carmine and white, in different 
 degrees ; second, lay orpiment and white, ditto ; third, lay blue- 
 black and white, ditto. _ ' 
 
 " The first sitting, for expedition, make a mixture on the pallet 
 as near the sitter's complexion as you can." 
 
 He also adds these observations on colouring : — 
 
 " To preserve the colours fresh and clean in painting, it must 
 be done by laying on more colours, and not by rubbing them in 
 when they are once laid •, and, if it can be done, they should be 
 laid just in their proper places at first, and not any more be 
 touched; because the freshness of the colours is tarnished and 
 lost by mixing and jumbling them together, for there are certain 
 colours which destroy each other by the motion of the pencil 
 when mixed to excess." 
 
 We may observe, that not only is the brilliancy as well as the 
 freshness of tints considerably impaired by indiscriminate mixing 
 and softening, but, if colours be too much worked about with the 
 brush, the oil will always rise to the surface, and the performance 
 will turn comparatively yellow in consequence. 
 
 The following remarks, extracted from other parts of Sir 
 Joshua's numerous memoranda, will be found to be interesting 
 as well as serviceable to the student in painting : — 
 
 " Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have 
 present in your mind a perfect idea of your future work. 
 
 " Paint at the greatest possible distance from your sitter, and 
 place the picture," occasionally, " near to the sitter, or sometimes 
 under him, so as to see both together. 
 
 " In beautiful faces, keep the whole circumference about the 
 eye in a mezzotinto, as seen in the works of Guido and the best 
 of Carlo Maratti. 
 
 " Endeavour to look at the subject or sitter from which you are 
 painting as if it was a picture •, this will in some degree render it 
 more easy to be copied. 
 
 " In painting, consider the object before yon, whatever it may 
 be, as more made out by light and shadow than by lines. _ 
 
 '" A student should begin his career by a careful finishing and 
 making out the parts; as practice will give him freedom and 
 facility of hand : a bold and unfinished manner is commonly the 
 habit of old age. 
 
 " On painting a Head. 
 
 " Let those parts which turn or retire from the eye be of 
 broken or mixed colours, as being less distinguished and nearer 
 the borders. 
 
90 
 
 xWEMOIR OF 
 
 The same ground might do for all other subjects as 
 well as landscapes. 
 
 " Make a finished sketch of every portrait you intend 
 to paint, and by the help of that dispose your living 
 model : then finish at the first time on a ground made 
 of Indian red and black. 
 
 "All the shadows in the works of the Caracci 
 Guercino, as well as the Venetian school, are made 
 with little colour, but much oil : the Venetians seem to 
 be made only of a drying oil, composed of red lead 
 and oil. 
 
 " Let all your shadows be of one colour ; glaze them till they 
 are so. 
 
 " Use red colours in the shadows of the most delicate com- 
 plexions, but with discretion. 
 
 " Contrive to have a skreen with red or yellow colour on it, to 
 reflect the light on the shaded part of the sitter's face. 
 
 " Avoid the chalk, the brick-dust, and the charcoal ; and think 
 on a pearl and a ripe peach. 
 
 " Avoid long-continued lines in the eyes, and too many sharp 
 ones. 
 
 " Take care to give your figure a sweep or sway. 
 " Outlines in waves, soft, and almost imperceptible against the 
 background. 
 
 " Never make the contour too coarse. 
 
 " A void all those outlines and lines which are equal, which 
 make parallels, triangles, &c. 
 
 " The parts which are nearest to the eye appear most enlight- 
 ened, deeper shadowed, and better seen. 
 
 " Keep broad lights and shadows, and also principal lights and 
 shadows. 
 
 " Where there is the deepest shadow, it is accompanied by the 
 brightest light. 
 
 " Let nothing start out, or be too strong for its place. 
 
 "Squareness has grandeur; it gives firmness to the forms: a 
 serpentine line, in comparison, appears feeble and tottering. 
 
 " The younger pupils are best taught by those who are in a 
 small degree advanced in knowledge above themselves, and from 
 that cause proceeds the peculiar advantage of studying in aca- 
 demies. 
 
 " The painter who knows his profession from principles may 
 apply them alike to any branch of the art, and succeed in it. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 
 
 91 
 
 ' "In comparison with Titian and Paul Veronese, all 
 the other Venetian painters appear hard : they have, in 
 a degree, the manner of Rembrandt; all mezzotinto, 
 occasioned by scumbling over their pictures with some 
 dark oil or colour." 
 
 In some of these memoranda Sir Joshua reasons on 
 what he has observed, and notes rules for the regulation 
 of his own conduct, and remarks which have occurred to 
 him on subjects connected with his art. 
 
 " After a strict examination of the best pictures, the 
 benefit to be derived from them is to draw such con- 
 clusions as may serve in future as fixed rules of practice ; 
 taking care not to be amused with trifles, but to learn to 
 regard the excellences chiefly. 
 
 " There are some who are very diligent in examin- 
 ing pictures, and yet are not at all advanced in their 
 judgment, although they can remember the exact colour 
 of every figure, &c. in the picture ; but not reflecting 
 deeply on what they have seen, or making observations 
 to themselves, they are not at all improved by the crowd 
 of particulars that swim on the surface of their brains ; 
 as nothing enters deep enough into their minds to do 
 them benefit through digestion. 
 
 "A painter should form his rules from pictures, 
 rather than from books or precepts ; this is having in- 
 formation at the first hand — at the fountain head. Rules 
 were first made from pictures — not pictures from rules. 
 The first compilers of rules for painting were in the situa- 
 tion in which it is most desirable a student should be. 
 Thus every picture an artist sees, whether the most ex- 
 cellent or most ordinary, he should consider from whence 
 that fine effect or that ill effect proceeds ; and then there 
 is no picture ever so indifferent but he may look at to 
 his profit. 
 
 " The manner of the English travellers in general, 
 
92 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 and of those who pique themselves on studying virtu, is, 
 that, instead of examining the heauties of those works 
 of fame, and why they are esteemed, they only en- 
 quire the subject of the picture, and the name of the 
 painter ; the history of a statue, and where it was found ; 
 and write that down. Some Englishmen, while I was 
 in the Vatican, came there and spent above six hours 
 in writing down whatever the antiquary dictated to 
 them ; they scarcely ever looked at the paintings the 
 whole time." 
 
 Among these remarks we find the following observ- 
 ations with respect to the estimate which Reynolds had 
 formed of the character of Apelles as a painter : — 
 
 "It is a matter of dispute among painters whether 
 Apelles would be esteemed a great painter were he 
 now alive : the very argument I have heard urged 
 against it is what persuades me he was a good painter ; 
 to wit, that he made use of but four colours.* A 
 remark made by Pliny is, that he polished away or 
 varnished over his pictures to take off their glaring 
 effect, and to deaden the tints : but Pliny does not 
 speak on this point like a painter ; he observed that the 
 pictures of Apelles had not that raw and gaudy colour- 
 ing like those of his contemporaries, and therefore ima- 
 gined it was occasioned by a varnish, but it was his 
 judicious breaking those colours to the standard of 
 nature. 
 
 " The ancient painters, I am fully persuaded, painted 
 in the great and true style ; of this the following 
 anecdote mentioned by Pliny is a considerable con- 
 firmation : — 
 
 " A painter had executed a picture which he valued 
 
 * Northcote tells us that " it was always Sir Joshua's advice 
 to his scholars to use as few colours as possible, as the only means 
 of being most secure from becoming heavy or dirty in colouring." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 93 
 
 for what is alone truly valuable in painting, that is, 
 character and expression. On its being exposed in 
 public, he was mortified to find, among other com- 
 mendations bestowed upon this picture, a partridge 
 admired that he had painted in a corner of the picture, 
 that it was so natural it looked to be alive ; he defaced 
 it entirely."* 
 
 In his estimate of the style of Apelles, Sir Joshua is 
 very probably correct ; for it is generally observed by 
 ancient writers on the subject, who had themselves 
 seen the works which they alluded to, that the stvle 
 of colouring adopted by the eminent Greek painters 
 was characterised by chasteness and simplicity ; that 
 they used but few colours (four are mentioned by Pliny 
 and others), and that these were not of a brilliant or 
 obtrusive nature. When the art revived in the hands 
 of the Romans, this style was soon exchanged for a 
 florid and gaudy one ; expensive and glaring colours 
 were then thought essential to the imposing effect of 
 a picture, and exaggerated action and expression to 
 the sentiment and character of the figures. The prin- 
 ciples by which the art was formerly governed had 
 been replaced by others of a very different nature ; and 
 the contrast was frequently observed, and commented 
 upon very severely. Even in the Augustan age the 
 taste for gaudy colouring is noticed by Cicero, who 
 draws a parallel between the art of his time and that 
 of the ancient Greek painters ; remarking on the oc- 
 casion, that the works of modern artists, though at first 
 more attractive in point of colour than those of the 
 
 * Alluding to a celebrated picture by Protogenes, mentioned 
 by Pliny and Strubo, and representing a satyr leaning against, a 
 pillar, on which the artist had introduced a partridge. As the 
 bird attracted more admiration than the figure, it was afterwards 
 effaced by the painter. 
 
94 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ancients, soon palled upon the sense of the spectator, 
 and eventually ceased to give pleasure. 
 
 With respect to the means which Apelles employed 
 to subdue or to neutralise the colouring of his pictures, 
 it seems likely that Pliny was correct ; for the process 
 he alludes to is evidently that which modern painters 
 would designate as glazing or toning : and this appears 
 to have been done with a neutral colour, in the way 
 that Correggio employed the same material. As the 
 Greeks were unacquainted with the use of oil colours, 
 this method of neutralising would appear to be more 
 practicable than that, of breaking the colours, as they 
 were placed on the picture. The result of the pro- 
 cess, whatever it might have been, is, however, the 
 characteristic which Reynolds alludes to, and the 
 conclusion which he draws from the facts advanced is 
 consistent with the notices of ancient authorities. 
 
 It has been observed that these remarks of Sir 
 Joshua can only be considered as expressions of belief 
 on a subject with regard to which we have not the 
 materials of certain knowledge; and that they appear 
 to be contradicted by the Elgin marbles, and by the 
 poetry of the Greek nation, which is full of graphic 
 images of homely as well as of heroic life. But unless 
 we doubt the authority of all ancient writers who have 
 given us information on the subject, and explained the 
 leading principles by which the Greek painters ac- 
 quired the high reputation which they enjoyed, we 
 must allow that they regulated their ideas of per- 
 fection in form and expression upon the same broad 
 and elevated principles which formed the taste of 
 Phidias and Praxiteles. Like them the Grecian 
 painters looked at nature in the abstract, and read it 
 in the magnificent conceptions of Homer, and other 
 writers of an elevated class, when its visible appear- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 95 
 
 ance, if we may use the expression, was unequal to 
 the object contemplated. 
 
 That images of homely as well as of heroic life 
 may be found in the poetry of the nation, is not, we 
 think, a reason why these should be selected for the 
 purposes of highly intellectual art, although they might 
 be, and have been, employed with advantage by the 
 Greeks in representations of a domestic nature. Neither 
 does it follow that the painter of humble life, who 
 should take the simple pastorals of Theocritus as sub- 
 jects for his pencil, must necessarily deviate from those 
 general principles which regulate the higher depart- 
 ments of the art. Propriety is not inconsistent with 
 elevated and comprehensive views, and the shepherd 
 may be painted on the same general rules by which 
 the monarch or the hero are delineated. No man 
 could have illustrated Theocritus better than Nicholas 
 Poussin; yet his style of art is formed on a severer 
 view of nature, on a closer adherence to abstract prin- 
 ciples, than even that of Raphael himself. The heroes 
 of the Idylls are not ordinary cowherds ; and the 
 painter who would truly represent them must take the 
 same poetic view, the same general idea, of the class 
 to which they belong, as that by which the poet was 
 regulated. 
 
 What is emphatically called the " grand style of 
 art " is not necessarily confined to elevated subjects, but 
 may take the range of nature, through every gradation, 
 with equal propriety of choice. A close adherence to 
 generalising principles is all that is requisite to bound it, 
 and it is with reference chiefly to this peculiarity, and 
 not so much to the nature of the subjects on which it 
 may employ itself, that the distinction alluded to has 
 been bestowed upon it. 
 
 With respect to the character of the Elgin marbles, 
 
96 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 we cannot persuade ourselves that they are formed on 
 other principles than those by which the Hercules or 
 the Apollo are executed. In each example the artist 
 has given us the general idea of the species or class 
 represented; and we think that the Theseus is as fine 
 and as complete an illustration of " the grand style of 
 art " as either of the deities in question. 
 
 " Raffaelle," continues Sir Joshua, in the memoran- 
 da from which we have already given extracts, "had 
 the true fire and spirit of his art : all his figures appear 
 to be really and unaffectedly intently occupied ac- 
 cording to their intended destinations. This is the pro- 
 per spirit of Raffaelle ; instead of which we find, in 
 most other painters, ridiculous contortions of body, ac- 
 tions that we never saw in nature : that, as Shakspeare 
 humourously expresses it, " one would think that some 
 of nature's journeymen had made them, they imitate 
 humanity so abominably." 
 
 "We find Raffaelle, in his works, sometimes pos- 
 sessed, as it were, with the very soul and spirit of 
 Michel Angelo, and perceive that it is from him that 
 he received his inspiration : witness his God the 
 Father dividing light from darkness, and Elias lifted 
 up to heaven. Raffaelle despised himself when he saw 
 the Capella Sistina of Michel Angelo, and resolved to 
 alter his style entirely ; and there is as great a differ- 
 ence between the Heliodorus and his other paintings 
 in the Vatican, as there is between the Greek and the 
 Roman sculpture." 
 
 " Sometimes a painter, by seeking for attitudes too 
 much, becomes cold and insipid. This is generally the 
 case with those who would give every figure a fine ac- 
 tion ; they lose sight of nature, and become uninteresting 
 and cold." 
 
 " Another general fault is that which the French 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 97 
 
 are commonly guilty of, seeking after what they call 
 spirit and fire, and thus outstrip the modesty of na- 
 ture, when their subject requires no such fire, or, per- 
 haps, quite the contrary ; however, they learnt it of him 
 whom they esteem as perfection itself — that was their 
 master." 
 
 In some other observations on the French painters 
 of his day, Reynolds observes, that " the French can- 
 not boast of above one painter of a truly just and 
 correct taste, free of any mixture of affectation or 
 bombast (Nicholas Poussin appears to be contem- 
 plated), and he was always proud to own from what 
 models he had formed his style : to wit, Raffaelle and 
 the antique ; but all the others of that nation seem to 
 have taken their ideas of grandeur from romances, 
 instead of the Roman or Grecian histories. Thus 
 their heroes are decked out so nice and fine, that they 
 look like knights errant just entering the lists, at a 
 tournament, in gilt armour, and loaded most unmerci- 
 fully with silk, satin, velvet, gold, jewels, &c, and 
 hold up their heads and carry themselves with an air 
 like a petit-maitre with his dancing-master at his elbow : 
 thus corrupting the true taste, and leading it astray 
 from the pure, the simple, and grand style, by a 
 mock modesty and false magnificence. Even the rude, 
 uncultivated manner of Caravaggio is still a better ex- 
 treme than those affected turns of the head, fluttering 
 draperies, contrasts of attitude, and distortions of pas- 
 sion." 
 
 On the style of the modern Italians he has remarked 
 that "the Italians, at present, in their historical pic- 
 tures, do not attempt to paint the drapery to appear 
 natural : I believe for no other reason than because 
 their masters before them did not; for if they were 
 guided hy the same principles that influenced their 
 
 VOL. i. h 
 
98 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 great predecessors, they would likewise avoid the glaring 
 colouring that at present they adopt, and attend more 
 to a grand simplicity in all the other branches of the 
 art." 
 
 After noticing the practice to which he has alluded, 
 Sir Joshua, in accordance with his usual habit, pro- 
 ceeds to reason on the principle by which it should be 
 regulated. 
 
 " When a true judge of art is wrapt in admiration 
 on the intellectual excellences of a picture, it is with 
 pain that he hears a tame remark on the colouring, hand- 
 ling, &c. When, like St. Paul, he is, by enthusiasm, 
 lifted up (if I may so say) to the third heaven, he is too 
 high to observe the inferior parts — he only gazes on the 
 whole together. 
 
 " Suppose a person, while he is contemplating a 
 capital picture by Raffaelle, or the Caracci, while he is 
 wrapt in wonder at the sight of St. Paul preaching at 
 Athens, and the various dispositions of his audience, or is 
 struck with the distress of the mother in the Death of 
 the Innocents, or with tears in his eyes beholds the 
 Dead Christ of Carracci, would it not offend him to have 
 his attention called off to observe a piece of drapery in 
 the picture naturally represented ?" 
 
 The answer is obvious, for individuality should form 
 no part of a picture that is painted upon general prin- 
 ciples; and if drapery be naturally, instead of classi- 
 cally, represented, in a work of such description, the 
 unity of the piece must necessarily be sacrificed, and the 
 attention diverted from the principal subject. 
 
 The natural representation of drapery, in the sense 
 which is here intended by the term, implies attention 
 to all the minutia? of detail by which it is distinguished 
 in nature : the classical representation of it has refer- 
 ence only to the general character of the mass, which 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 99 
 
 is all that the painter should call the attention to, "who 
 does not make detail his principal object. 
 
 It has been stated, in allusion to these remarks of 
 Sir Joshua, that " the sentiment and character of the 
 figure will dictate the drapery ; and that when these 
 are strong, and true, and natural, they will always pre- 
 dominate over the accessories. Had he advised," it 
 is added, " to clothe a figure gaily or gravely accord- 
 ing to the style of the countenance and gesture, Rey- 
 nolds would have spoken more in keeping with his own 
 practice." 
 
 But they who are unacquainted with the conduct of 
 a picture would be surprised to find how trifling a cir- 
 cumstance will call the eye from the principal subject ; 
 and when general rules are neglected interruptions 
 must occur without end. In historic and poetic 
 compositions, we repeat, nature must be represented 
 in the abstract, and all that tends to give identity to 
 minutiae detracts from the grandeur of the whole. 
 But let us allow Reynolds to comment upon his own 
 observations. 
 
 " In the same manner as the historical painter never 
 enters into the detail of colours, so neither does he de- 
 base his conceptions with minute attention to the dis- 
 criminations of drapery. It is the inferior style that 
 marks the variety of stuffs. With him the clothing is 
 neither woollen, nor linen, nor silk, satin, or velvet : it is 
 drapery ; it is nothing more. The art of disposing the 
 foldings of drapery makes a very considerable part of 
 the painter's studv. To make it merely natural is a 
 mechanical operation, to which neither genius nor taste 
 is required ; whereas it requires the nicest judgment 
 to dispose the drapery so that the folds shall have an 
 easy communication, and gracefully follow each other, 
 with such easy negligence as to look like the effect of 
 h 2 
 
100 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 chance, and at the same time show the figure to the 
 greatest advantage."* 
 
 In the works of Raphael, and of other great masters 
 who excelled in the higher departments of the art, 
 we never find those peculiarities expressed which Sir 
 Joshua has here pointed out as unbecoming the attention 
 of historical painters. The attire of their figures must 
 be considered as drapery, without any reference to 
 the nature of the material of which it might chance to 
 be composed ; and we are sure that every artist who 
 understands his profession will coincide in the propriety 
 of so representing it. 
 
 The zeal and the judgment with which Reynolds 
 pursued his studies at Rome did not prevent him from 
 occasionally indulging his fancy in a lighter and very 
 different style of art from that which he pondered over 
 in the Vatican. We allude to a species of caricature 
 of which he has left several examples. One of them 
 is a parody on Raphael's School of Athens, and com- 
 prises about thirty figures, embracing portraits of most 
 of the English gentlemen at that time resident in the 
 metropolis. " It is now in possession," says North- 
 cote, " of Mr. Joseph Henry of Straffan, in Ireland, 
 whose portrait it also contains ; and I have heard Sir 
 Joshua himself say," he adds, '•' that although it was 
 universally allowed he executed subjects of this kind 
 with much humour and spirit, he yet held it absolutely 
 necessary to abandon the practice, since it must corrupt 
 his taste as a portrait painter, whose duty it becomes to 
 aim at discovering the perfections only of those whom 
 he is to represent." — " It is scarcely to be credited," ob- 
 serves his biographer, " that an artist so refined, from 
 the earliest dawnings of his genius, should have been 
 
 * Discourse iv. 
 
SIR JOSHUA KESTNOLDS. 
 
 101 
 
 at any period a caricaturist." But it is probable that 
 Reynolds had more in contemplation when he painted 
 the pictures alluded to than the mere whim of execut- 
 ing caricatures. He has recommended the students, 
 in his discourses, to take the plan of any picture of the 
 ancient masters which they may propose to themselves 
 as a model, and paint a companion to it, as a means of 
 exercising themselves in the qualities which have at- 
 tracted their attention. 
 
 The distribution of figures, and the general plan of 
 the School of Athens, might be applied, with this view, 
 to any other group that the fancy of the artist might 
 suggest ; and Reynolds may have painted his carica- 
 ture with the design of exercising himself in compo- 
 sition as well as in the delineation of character and 
 expression. As he never had the advantage of an 
 academic education, he could not paint a classical sub- 
 ject after the model of any picture of Raphael ; and he 
 probably imagined that in what he could effect he 
 might be able to call his powers into action, and obtain 
 at the same time a memorandum of the work which he 
 imitated, so far as related to the application of the 
 general principles on which it was painted. 
 
 We have no authority for this supposition, and have 
 never seen the picture alluded to, or any others of a 
 similar nature which he painted ; but Reynolds was ac- 
 customed to make the most of every thing, and feeling 
 himself unequal to historical compositions, he exercised 
 his invention in caricature. 
 
 Before he left England, Reynolds had been strongly 
 urged by his patron, Lord Mount Edgcumbe, to put 
 himself under the tuition of Pompeo Battoni, a native of 
 Lucca, at that time established in Rome, and who ap- 
 pears to have been considered there, and, indeed, in 
 
 h 3 
 
102 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 almost every other part of Europe, as little inferior to 
 Raphael. 
 
 " Battoni had some talent," observes Farington, " but 
 his works are dry, cold, and insipid. That such per- 
 formances," he adds, " should have been so extolled 
 in the very seat and centre of the fine arts seems won- 
 derful. But in this manner has public taste been 
 operated upon ; and from the period when art was car- 
 ried to the highest point of excellence known in modern 
 times it has thus gradually declined. A succession 
 of artists followed each other, who, being esteemed the 
 most eminent in their own time, were praised extrava- 
 gantly by an ignorant public, and, in the several schools 
 they established, their own productions were the only 
 objects of study." 
 
 On seeing the works of Battoni, and comparing 
 them with those in the Vatican, our young artist 
 judged it expedient to think for himself, and declined 
 the well-intended, but injudicious, advice of his patron. 
 In this, as, indeed, on almost every occasion, he early 
 displayed a perception of excellence, and a power of 
 just discrimination, which few of his age and experience 
 have been gifted with. If he failed to appreciate, on a 
 first examination, the peculiar characteristics of Raphael, 
 he was able, in defiance of popular opinion, against 
 which he seemed destined to struggle throughout life 
 with success, to distinguish between the false light of 
 prejudice and the lustre of genuine excellence. He 
 saw that Battoni wa3 unequal to the task of instruct- 
 ing him; and soon discovered that even in the great 
 metropolis of art there was no one better qualified to 
 become his preceptor. "To follow such guides," he 
 was fully persuaded, " would not only retard the student, 
 but mislead him." " On whom, then, could he" safely 
 " rely, or who" was able to " show him the path that 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 103 
 
 leads to excellence?" His good sense suggested that 
 " those great masters who have travelled the same 
 road with success are the most likely to conduct 
 others;" that "the works of those who have stood 
 the. test of ages have a claim to that respect and vener- 
 ation to which no modern can pretend. 
 
 The duration and stability of their fame is sufficient 
 to evince that it has not been suspended upon the slen- 
 der thread of fashion and caprice, but bound to the hu- 
 man heart by every tie of sympathetic approbation."* 
 
 His course was no sooner opened to him than Rey- 
 nolds prepared to travel forward with all the energy 
 and perseverance which so peculiarly distinguished him. 
 He looked to Raphael and Michael Angelo as the guides 
 of his youthful inexperience, and devoted himself almost 
 exclusively to the study of their works.t 
 
 "By judiciously considering these magnificent pro- 
 ductions," says Farington, " he gradually became 
 sensible of their high quality ; and to expand his mind, 
 and acquire a larger practice of the hand, he copied 
 such portions of them as might be afterwards useful 
 to him. He did all that was possible upon the limited 
 foundation he had laid; nor was his labour in vain. 
 He never was competent," from want of knowledge of 
 design, " to adopt the grand style of art ; but by great 
 diligence and attention he enlarged his conceptions and 
 refined his taste, so as to show in his portraits a new 
 mode of thinking, on this branch of the art, perfectly 
 distinct and original. 
 
 " Not any of the great masters who preceded him 
 
 * Discourse ii 
 
 + His diligence and perseverance in the study of those masters 
 were continued under every disadvantage of season ; and the deaf- 
 ness to which Reynolds was afterwards subject is said to have 
 proceeded from a cold which he caught, and probably neglected, 
 while pursuing his researches in the chambers ot the Vatican. 
 H 4 
 
104 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 stood more independently than Sir Joshua Reynolds: 
 and there are peculiar charms and graces in the best 
 of his works, which are seldom, if ever, found in the 
 productions of those eminent artists who had greater ge- 
 neral powers than he possessed. 
 
 " The great progress which he made in his art proved 
 the truth of a maxim, which he always maintainec, that 
 ' all refined knowledge is gradually obtained, and taat by 
 study and exertion alone every excellence of whatever 
 kind might be acquired.' " 
 
 At Rome, Joseph Marchi, a young Roman, about 
 fifteen years of age, was engaged by Reynolds as a 
 pupil, and accompanied his master to England. His 
 talents as an artist were not, however, very brilliant, 
 and his progress was inconsiderable. "He appears, 
 nevertheless, to have been a man of sense and inte- 
 grity ; and, from the excellence of his temper, and sim- 
 plicity of his character, was universally beloved and 
 respected." 
 
 Having stayed at Rome as long as his resources 
 allowed him to remain there, young Reynolds proceeded 
 to Florence, where he remained two months, and 
 painted a portrait of Mr. Wilton, the sculptor, vhich 
 attracted considerable notice. "It was a brilliant dis- 
 play," observes Farington, " of those qualities in vhich 
 he so eminently excelled ; but of the peculiar ments of 
 the picture he did not then appear to be sufficently 
 sensible. From Florence," continues this biographer, 
 " he went to Bologna, and from thence to Parma, Mo- 
 dena, Milan, Padua, and Venice, where he remained only 
 a month or six weeks." His visit to Genoa is not men- 
 tioned by Mr. Farington ; but Northcote has furnished 
 us with extracts from his journal, containing memo- 
 randa of what he noticed in that city. They are sight, 
 and comparatively unimportant; but his observations 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 105 
 
 on the cupola of the cathedral at Parma are given 
 isomewhat more in detail : they are comments on rules 
 which he appears to have formed for the regulation 
 of his future practice. 
 
 " Relieve the light parts of the picture with a dark 
 ground, or the dark part with a light ground, which- 
 ever will have the most agreeable effect, or make the 
 best mass. The cupola of Parma has the dark objects 
 relieved, and the lights scarcely distinguishable from 
 the ground. Some whole figures are considered as 
 shadows ; all the lights are of one colour ; it is in the 
 shadows only that the colours vary. In general, all 
 the shadows should be of one colour, and the lights 
 only to be distinguished by different tints ; at least 
 it should be so when the background is dark in the 
 picture." 
 
 It has always appeared remarkable to those who 
 knew the feebng which Reynolds had for colour, that 
 he should not have stayed longer at Venice, where this 
 attractive part of his art is displayed in its greatest 
 perfection.* 
 
 Venice is the spot where painters love to linger ; 
 there they listen to the distant thunders of the Vatican, 
 in calm enjoyment of the sunshine around them. The 
 solemn peal is heard at intervals, but the lightning is 
 powerless. The genius of colour has thrown her spell 
 
 * It seems very probable that the state of his finances made it 
 necessary that he should economise his time, for we find him 
 shortly afterwards at Lyons with only six louis in his pocket. 
 Had it been otherwise, we think that the attractions of Giorgione, 
 of Titian, Tintoret, and Paul Veronese, would have detained him 
 for a much longer period. The extraordinary, we almost feel in- 
 clined to say the miraculous, powers of Tintoret, which are no- 
 where displayed to their fullest extent but at Venice, would alone 
 have been sufficient to occupy more time in examining than he 
 was able to bestow upon the united treasures of the school. 
 
106 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 around them ; and while he is within it the painter is 
 safe from the shafts of Michel Angelo and Raphael. 
 
 We are persuaded that Reynolds had too much feel- 
 ing for colour to allow his Roman reason to operate 
 at Venice : and feel convinced that, if circumstances had 
 permitted him to remain there, his departure would 
 not have heen in any degree accelerated by the result 
 of a comparison between the merits of the two great 
 schools. In any other place we acknowledge the pre- 
 eminence justly claimed by the Roman school ; but 
 at Venice the painter will not admit a thought to the 
 prejudice of that of the Venetians. There the feeling 
 for colour absorbs the mind exclusively ; it has no 
 place for other ideas, and no inchnation to make room 
 for them. 
 
 At the same time, we cannot allow that the beauties 
 of colour are unintellectual. We all feel that they are 
 attractive, but there are few who can tell why they are 
 so, and few who can discriminate between the truly 
 beautiful and the common-place, the gaudy or the 
 meretricious, 
 
 The mind that is open to the truth and the elegance 
 of colour must be formed by cultivation to receive 
 true impressions, and to judge by an elevated standard. 
 A true feeling for colour is as much an acquired taste 
 as the feeling for genuine excellence in form and 
 expression ; and he who has not learnt to think with 
 refinement and propriety will endeavour in vain to 
 acquire it. The ordinary study of the works of the 
 Venetian school will greatly assist in training the stu- 
 dent to look at nature with the eye of a painter : but 
 he cannot discriminate between the beauties of that 
 school if he has not acquired the feeling of a poet ; 
 and without such a power of just discrimination he 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 107 
 
 will never be able to apply what he gains from it to the 
 purposes of intellectual art. 
 
 To the cultivated mind, no other works are neces- 
 sary for the attainment of perfection in colour than 
 those of the Venetian painters. The Caracci have 
 given a poetical sentiment to their works, by reducing 
 them to the low tones of a colourless twilight : but 
 such an effect is rather gained by the absence of colour, 
 than by a masterly and scientific use of it ; and he who 
 reduces the scale of his pictures to little more than an 
 effect of black and white, is not much indebted to the 
 magic of colouring for the impression which they make 
 upon the spectators. The absence of light and colour 
 will give one peculiar kind of solemnity, as well in 
 nature as in art ; but this is a solemnity of compa- 
 ratively easy acquisition, and the colourist of moderate 
 abilities may attain it. The solemn tones of Titian 
 have a higher degree of sentiment than those gloomy 
 illustrations of poetical feeling, of which an engraving 
 might almost be said to convey to us an adequate 
 idea. 
 
 To give sublimity and pathos by the power of colour 
 only (we are speaking now with reference to the effect 
 of a picture) is an art of much more difficult attain- 
 ment. But such effects have been continually pro- 
 duced by many of the Venetian painters ; and, indeed, 
 it appears to be peculiar to that school to make up the 
 plan of their pictures, with very little assistance from 
 light and shade, by the judicious employment of light 
 and dark colours. When poetical feeling is combined 
 with the power of producing effects of this nature, the 
 result is impressive in the highest degree ; and the 
 painter who is capable of uniting such advantages 
 must always rank high in intellectual art, whatever 
 may be his power of design. 
 
108 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Indeed, to exert the power of colour to its greatest 
 possible extent in the expression of poetical sentiment, 
 appears to us to require the same quality of mind that 
 is essential for the acquirement of that high degree of 
 excellence in delineating character and expression to 
 which Michel Angelo and Raphael have attained; and 
 it seems to be even more difficult of acquisition, be- 
 cause the means by which alone it may be gained are 
 less capable of being accurately defined.* 
 
 To separate what appears to depend upon feeling 
 from that which may be clearly reduced to rule, is the 
 most arduous task of the preceptor in colour; and it 
 is probable that the difficulty, perhaps the impossi- 
 bility, of the task prevented Reynolds from attempting 
 to instruct his young auditors in the comprehensive 
 art of colouring, otherwise than by giving them some 
 general rules for their guidance, by directing them to the 
 sources from which he gained his own information, the 
 works of the ancient masters, and by opening to them 
 such views of art in general as were calculated to enlarge 
 
 * In offering these remarks on the importance of colour, con- 
 sidered as an intellectual pursuit, we must not be understood to 
 have any intention of depreciating the art of design. The power 
 of delineating passion and sentiment, as they display themselves 
 to the classical painter in his study of the human countenance, 
 and the art of giving dignity and grace to the human form and 
 of distinguishing between its general and its accidental charac- 
 teristics in the representation of ideal beauty, will always open to 
 the artist the widest field of excellence, and command the highest 
 possible interest. The fame of Michel Angelo and Raphael is 
 built on no uncertain foundation ; and they have not studied and 
 ennobled a pursuit which can be said to be unworthy of their ex- 
 ertions. But we think that the general estimate of colour is faf 
 below what that fascinating art is entitled to, and that much morn 
 of true poetical sentiment enters into the composition of a fine 
 colourist than even painters themselves will at all times allow 
 though none are so well qualified to feel properly on such points, 
 and, indeed, we may almost say that none but a painter is quali 
 tied to give a sound opinion on the subject. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 109 
 
 their minds, and fit them for the study of intellectual 
 pursuits at a more advanced period of their academic 
 labours. It was at the same time essential that the 
 art of design, in the extended meaning of the term, 
 should be first acquired by the students; and the ac- 
 quisition of this was quite sufficient to engross their 
 attention, without diverting it prematurely into other 
 channels. 
 
 But if to teach a young artist how to colour be im- 
 practicable, it is by no means impossible that he should 
 teach himself to colour ; and this mode of acquiring 
 the refinements of the art appears to be the most 
 effectual one by which they can be attained. The 
 wide field of nature, as viewed through the medium of 
 the works of the ancient masters, and more particularly 
 those of Titian, will be found to be the most infallible 
 guides to the student. From them he will learn what 
 it is most desirable to select, and how far the materials 
 selected may be disposed of to the best advantage. 
 From the judicious opposition of one colour to an- 
 other he will learn to see the relative value of each, 
 and will gain at the same time a general knowledge of 
 the requisite proportion of warm and cool colours, and 
 of the places in which they can best be employed. 
 He will there perceive how colours are blended with 
 and lost in others, and how they are occasionally con- 
 trasted by abrupt opposition; how the same colour is 
 recalled in different parts of a picture, and in what 
 proportion to its principal mass ; together with the 
 motive which the painter had in view in determining 
 the relative proportions adopted. He will see how far 
 the fight and shadow of a picture dictates to the 
 painter the arrangement of colours, and the places in 
 which they should be forced upon the eye or retire 
 from the notice of the spectator. He will make him- 
 
110 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 self acquainted with the various contrivances which 
 painters are occasionally obliged to employ to coun- 
 teract, or to conceal, an unpleasing disposition of lines, 
 to which he may, perhaps, have been confined by the 
 nature of his subject, or into which he may inadvert- 
 ently have fallen. He will learn how such contrivances 
 may be successfully resorted to, in balancing those 
 parts of a composition for which there are no sufficient 
 accompaniments in the objects to which the artist has 
 been limited ; how far a comparatively insignificant 
 mass may be made of primary importance, and how 
 the eye may be averted from a large and conspicuous 
 one to which it is requisite that it should not be 
 directed. 
 
 All, in short, that has been successfully effected by 
 others may be said to be placed at the artist's disposal 
 after studying attentively a succession of pictures, and 
 reasoning with judgment upon what he observes in 
 them. What he gains from the study of one will assist 
 him in the examination of another, and he will advance 
 in the knowledge of his art with a rapidity which he 
 could scarcely have anticipated before he commenced 
 his researches. 
 
 The advantages which the treasures of Venice will 
 afford to the painter who seriously prosecutes this 
 method of study, — and Keynolds did seriously pursue 
 it, — were not, however, suffered to display themselves m 
 vain. He made numerous slight sketches in his pocket- 
 book (after the manner described in his notes on Du 
 Fresnoy's poem) of the relative proportions of light 
 and dark employed by the Venetian painters ; and he 
 found, as he observes, on comparing them together, 
 that they differed very little from each other.* 
 
 * Respecting Mr. Mason's translation of Du Fresnoy's Art of 
 Painting, Nor^sotc- &as given us the following memorandum:. — 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 While in the north of Italy our young artist became 
 acquainted with Zuccarelli, the celebrated landscape 
 painter; and at his house he painted the portrait of a 
 gentleman in a style which appeared to be new to his 
 host : Zuccarelli was struck with the boldness and 
 decision of his execution : and one day, while overlook- 
 ing the work, he turned to Marchi and exclaimed, 
 " Che spirito ha quest' uomo !" — What spirit this man 
 displays ! 
 
 At Rome, or at Florence, for the story is differently 
 recorded, Reynolds met Astley, — a fellow-labourer with 
 him in the unprofitable vineyard of Hudson. Astley 
 was an idle and a dissipated man, and, consequently, 
 a verv indifferent painter ; his literary attainments were 
 still more inconsiderable ; and Reynolds used to say of 
 him, that " he would rather run three miles to deliver 
 a message by word of mouth than venture to write 
 a note." He had, however, the patronage of Sir Horace 
 Mann, the English minister, and was employed now and 
 then in painting portraits, and still oftener in making 
 copies for English travellers of modern Italian pictures. 
 As might naturally be expected, Astley's prospects in 
 art were not of a very brilliant nature, and fortune had 
 hitherto used him but shabbily; she relented in time 
 to save the artist from himself ; and afterwards intro- 
 duced him to the notice of a wealthy widow — the relict 
 of Sir Thomas Duckenfield Daniell — who was so much 
 struck with his appearance and demeanour, (for Astley 
 
 " It appears, if the world owe any thing to Mr. Mason for this 
 production, that they are also partly indebted for it to Sir Joshua, 
 as it had long lain in manuscript, unfinished, in Mr. Mason's 
 library, and was only at length brought forward in consequence 
 of bis having requested a sight of it, and then freely made an offer 
 of illustrating it in the manner he has done, which renders the 
 work invaluable." 
 
112 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 was a tall, showy man,) that she soon took occasion 
 to sit to him for her portrait; and hefore it was 
 completed offered him her hand. It was calculated 
 that Astley, who survived his wife, and ultimately 
 succeeded to the whole of her property, wasted not 
 less than a hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; though 
 he still contrived to leave considerable property to four 
 children, the offspring of a subsequent marriage. 
 
 Northcote has recorded a whimsical anecdote of this 
 favourite of fortune aud Lady Daniell : at the period 
 here alluded to, Astley's purse and his wardrobe were 
 not better furnished than his head ; but he managed to 
 preserve a good outward appearance, and kept up the 
 credit of all. He was often seen abroad, and frequently 
 joined his brother artists in little evening excursions 
 into the country, in which Reynolds also sometimes 
 united. On one of these occasions, as the heat was more 
 than usually oppressive, the whole party threw off 
 their coats, with the exception of poor Astley, who 
 showed great reluctance in parting with his gay outer 
 garment. This appeared to be very inconsistent with 
 the comfort of a hot summer's evening ; and his com- 
 panions indulged themselves in so many jokes on the 
 extreme singularity of his refusal, that the coat could 
 no longer be retained. When the veil was withdrawn, 
 the hinder part of Astley's waistcoat was found to be 
 composed of one of his own pictures, and displayed a 
 tremendous waterfall, greatly to the confusion of the 
 unfortunate artist, and the diversion of the astonished 
 spectators. 
 
 After an absence of nearly three years, Reynolds 
 made his arrangements for returning home ; and from a 
 trivial occurrence which Malone has recorded, and which 
 Sir Joshua himself used to mention, we may conclude 
 that the prospect of revisiting his native land was not 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 113 
 
 beheld with indifference, even in the " country which 
 Michel Angelo and Raffaelle had embellished by their 
 genius and their works." 
 
 In compliment to the English gentlemen who at- 
 tended on the occasion, the manager of the opera at 
 Venice had ordered the band to play " an English 
 ballad tune." " Happening to be the popular air which 
 was played or sung in almost every street at the time 
 of their leaving London, by suggesting to them that 
 metropolis, with all its connections and endearing 
 circumstances, it immediately brought tears into our" 
 artist's " eyes, as well as into those of his countrvmen 
 who were present." 
 
 Reynolds proceeded to England by the route of 
 Mont Cenis, and at the foot of the mountain he met 
 his old master, Hudson, accompanied by Roubiliac. 
 " Hudson had thought it prudent," observes Farington. 
 " to perform the customary pilgrimage of artists, and 
 was making a hurried tour to the land where art is 
 seen in classical perfection. The expedition with which 
 he executed his purpose was extraordinary. He was 
 only two days in Rome, and ran from place to place 
 with such speed, that he accomplished his tour in 
 Italy and returned to Paris before Reynolds had quitted 
 that city ; and they came from Calais to Dover in the 
 same packet ; so that he could not have been absent 
 from England more than two months." 
 
 On bis arrival at Lyons, Reynolds found his purse 
 very low : he had only six louis left ; two of which he 
 gave to Marchi, with orders to proceed as he could, 
 and reserved four to carry him to Paris, where in eight 
 days he was joined by his pupil, who had performed 
 the journey from Lyons on foot. 
 
 At Paris he painted a beautiful portrait of Mrs. 
 Chambers, the wife of his friend, the celebrated archi- 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 
 
 MEMOIR CP 
 
 tect, who afterwards receive:! the honour of knight- 
 hood, and with whom he long continued in habits of 
 intimacy : respecting him, says Northcote, " as an in- 
 stance of genius rising in opposition to circumstance."* 
 He also painted the portrait of Mrs. Gothier at Paris ; 
 and both these pictures were afterwards engraved. He 
 was, however, very actively employed at other times 
 in viewing whatever was remarkable ; and we may glean 
 from his memoranda that, during the month he remained 
 at the capital of the great nation, he saw quite enough 
 of the French style of art to give him a high opinion 
 of their talent in design, and a very indifferent one 
 of their ability in painting. 
 
 Reynolds arrived in London, October 16, 1752; and 
 finding his health much impaired, he judged it prudent 
 to refresh himself with his native air before he resumed 
 his professional avocations. He remained three months 
 in Devonshire; and while at Plymouth painted the 
 portrait of Dr. Mudge, "a remarkably fine head," 
 observes Northcote; "and from this time," he con- 
 tinues, "a warm, disinterested, and reciprocal friend- 
 ship subsisted between this truly respectable family of 
 the Mudges and Mr. Reynolds, who always held them 
 in the highest esteem; and the friendly connection 
 between them was kept up to the latest period of his 
 life." 
 
 " This portrait, and another of a young lady, were all 
 that he undertook while at Plymouth, being strongly 
 urged by his friend and patron, Lord Edgcumbe, to 
 return as soon as possible to the metropolis, as the 
 place where talent could best make itself conspicuous. 
 
 * Sir William Chambers, in later years, was actively employed 
 ■with Reynolds in the establishment of the Royal Academy, 
 and built the rooms which they at present occupy in Somerset 
 House. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 115 
 
 In compliance with this advice he proceeded to London, 
 and took handsome apartments in St. Martin's Lane, 
 at 'that time the favourite and the fashionable rendez- 
 vous of artists, about the end of the year 1752; and 
 here he was joined by his youngest sister, Fanny, who 
 took charge of his domestic concerns. 
 
 " He found such opposition," Mr. Cunningham trulv 
 observes, " as genius is commonly doomed to meet with, 
 and does not always overcome. The boldness of his 
 attempts, the freedom of his conceptions, and the bril- 
 liancy of his colouring, were considered as innovations 
 upon the established and orthodox system of portrait 
 manufacture. The artists raised their voices first ; and 
 of these Hudson, who had just returned from Rome, 
 was loudest." 
 
 At the period now alluded to, the first work that 
 brought Reynolds into notice was a portrait of his 
 pupil Marchi, represented in a Turkish dress, and well 
 known as the picture of a boy with a turban. His old 
 master frequently visited him while engaged in this 
 first example of his newly- adopted style; and when it 
 was completed Hudson looked at it attentively, and 
 then observed, with the addition of his customary 
 oath, "Reynolds, you don't paint so well now as vou 
 did before you went to Italy." Astley was present at 
 the time; and Marchi observed a smile upon his 
 countenance at this uncalled-for remark of his pre- 
 ceptor in art, which seemed to indicate that he had 
 discovered the motive of the observation in the jealousv 
 that Hudson experienced. 
 
 Ellis, also, an eminent portrait painter of the time, 
 and one of the few remaining artists of the school of 
 Kneller, expressed himself equally dissatisfied. He 
 had heard of the picture of the Turkish boy, and 
 called on Reynolds to see it ; when, perceiving the 
 f 2 
 
\\Q MEMOIR OP 
 
 style of painting by which it was characterized to be 
 very unlike any thing to which he had been accustomed, 
 he observed, with a prophetic shake of the head, " Oh, 
 Reynolds, this will never answer : why you don't paint 
 in the least degree in the manner of Kneller;" and 
 when the young painter began to expostulate, and to 
 vindicate himself from so serious a charge, Ellis, feel- 
 ing himself unable* to give any good reason for the ob- 
 jection which he had advanced, cried out in a great 
 rage, " Shakespeare in poetry, and Kneller in painting, 
 damme !" and immediately left the room. 
 
 The prepossession in favour of Kneller and Lely, 
 which Revnolds had to combat in the early part of his 
 career, has been stated by Northcote to " have raised an 
 over-violent prejudice in his breast against those pain- 
 ters, which continued to the end of his life." He has ex- 
 pressed himself strongly, in the following remarks, on 
 the nature of the fashionable style of the day :— 
 
 " Most of our portrait painters fall into one general 
 fault. They have got a set of postures which they 
 apply to all persons indiscriminately ; the consequence 
 of which is, that all their pictures look like so many 
 sign-post paintings ; and if they have a history or a 
 familv piece to paint, the first thing they do is to look 
 over their common-place book, containing sketches 
 which they have stolen from various pictures; then 
 they search their prints over, and pilfer one figure 
 from one print and another from a second, but never 
 take the trouble of thinking for themselves. On the 
 contrary, the painter who has a genius, first makes 
 himself master of the subject he is to represent, by 
 reading or otherwise; then works his imagination up 
 into a kind of enthusiasm, till, in a degree, he perceives 
 the whole event before his eyes, when, as quick as 
 lightning, he gives his rough sketch on paper or can- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 117 
 
 vass. Bv these means his work has the air of genius 
 stamped upon it ; whilst the contrarv mode of practice 
 will infallibly be productive of tameness, and of such 
 pictures as will have the semblance of copies. After 
 the painter has made his sketch from his idea only, he 
 may be allowed to look at the works of his predeces- 
 sors for dresses, ornaments, &c. of the times he intends 
 to represent. 
 
 " Every artist is a painter for himself : whenever he 
 hears or reads any remarkable event, he forms to him- 
 self the looks, actions, and even the ground on which 
 it was transacted. The painter has nothing to do 
 but to copy those images on canvass which he has 
 in his mind's eye. 
 
 " Suidas says that Phidias and Zeuxis were both of 
 them transported by the same enthusiasm that gave life 
 to all their works." 
 
 It may here be remarked, that few painters have 
 profited more from the labours of others than Rey- 
 nolds : he took hints from pictures, from books, from 
 prints, of which he had a large and valuable collec- 
 tion, from drawings of the old masters, which he 
 also possessed in great number, and from every thing, 
 in fact, from which ideas could be gained that had 
 originated with his predecessors. But his observa- 
 tion of nature was at the same time so extensive, 
 and his perception of character so just and so strong, 
 that, assisted by a never-failing sense of propriety, 
 and a peculiar elegance of mind, he was enabled, with- 
 out any great exuberance of fancy, to give to other 
 men's ideas an air of originality by the manner in 
 which he applied them. This is not imitation; and. 
 indeed, we may add, what Sir Joshua himself has ob 
 served, that there is no better method by which an 
 artist of discrimination can acquire and preserve the 
 i 3 
 
118 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 appearance of originality than by making himself mas- 
 ter of the ideas of others. The new ideas which 
 Reynolds acquired ,from the study of the works of the 
 great Italian masters enabled him to reform the vitiated 
 taste of his country, and to maintain the ascendency, 
 which they were chiefly instrumental in establishing, 
 to the end of his brilliant career. Much of his origin- 
 ality was, however, gained from nature ; particularly 
 that which he manifested in his admirable represent- 
 ations of children, and in marking the peculiar cha- 
 racteristics of beauty, as exemplified in the varieties of 
 female form. At the same time, with respect to what 
 he gleaned from others, it is difficult to say, even in 
 those instances in which he adhered most closely to 
 his model, whether his own picture or the work from 
 which he borrowed have the greatest appearance of 
 originality. 
 
 The impression which Reynolds had made on the 
 public by his picture of the Turkish boy was soon 
 followed by others still more to his advantage. "The 
 works which had gained him celebrity," observes 
 Mr. Cunningham, " were not the fortunate offspring 
 of some happy moment, but of one who could pour 
 out such pictures in profusion. Better ones were not 
 slow in coming. He painted the second Duke of 
 Devonshire, and this increased his fame. He next 
 painted his patron, Commodore Keppel, and produced 
 a work of such truth and nobleness that it fixed uni- 
 versal attention. This gallant seaman, in pursuing a 
 privateer, ran his ship aground on the coast of France, 
 and was made prisoner in the midst of his exertions to 
 save his crew from destruction. He was released 
 from prison, and acquitted of all blame by a court- 
 martial. The portrait represents him just escaped 
 from the shipwreck. The artist deviated from the 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 119 
 
 formal style of his rivals, and deviated into excellence. 
 The spirit of a higher species of art is visible in this 
 performance, yet the likeness was reckoned perfect." 
 
 " With this picture," says Farington, " he took great 
 pains ; for it was observed at that time that after several 
 sittings he defaced his work and began it again. But 
 his labour was not lost : that excellent production was 
 so much admired that it completely established the re- 
 putation of the artist. Its dignity and spirit, its beauty 
 of colour, and fine general effect, occasioned equal 
 surprise and pleasure. The public, hitherto accustomed 
 to see only the formal, tame representations which 
 reduced all persons to the same standard of unmeaning 
 insipidity, were captivated with this display of animated 
 character, and the report of its attraction was soon 
 widely circulated." 
 
 In allusion to the same work Malone has observed, 
 " The whole interval between the time of Charles I. 
 and the conclusion of the reign of George II., though 
 distinguished by the performances of Lely, Riley, and 
 Kneller, seemed to be annihilated ; and the only question 
 was, whether the new painter or Vandyck were the more 
 excellent. For several years before the period we are 
 now speaking of, the painters of portraits contented 
 themselves with exhibiting as correct a resemblance as 
 they could, but seemed not to have thought, or had not 
 the power, of enlivening the canvass by giving a kind of 
 historic air to their pictures. Mr. Reynolds very soon 
 saw how much animation might be obtained by deviating 
 from the insipid manner of his immediate predecessors : 
 hence in many of his portraits, particularly when com- 
 bined in family groups, we find much of the variety and 
 spirit of a higher species of art. Instead of confining 
 himself to mere likeness, in which, however, he was 
 eminently happy, he dived, as it were, into the mind, 
 
120 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and habits, and manners, of those who sat to him ; and 
 accordingly the majority of his portraits are so appro- 
 priate and characteristic that the many illustrious per- 
 sons whom he has delineated will be almost as well 
 known to posterity as if they had seen and conversed 
 with them."* 
 
 The admirable portrait of Keppel was soon followed 
 by others of distinguished ability ; and Reynolds now 
 found his prospects so brilliant and extensive that he 
 removed to a large house on the north side of Great 
 Newport Street, where he resided for eight or nine 
 years. 
 
 " This period," says Northcote, " was the dawn of 
 his splendour ; for his amiable modesty, accompanied 
 by his extraordinary talents, soon gained him powerful 
 and active connections : he greatly added to his cele- 
 brity by his picture of Miss Greville and her brother, 
 as Cupid and Psyche ; and was now employed to paint 
 several ladies of high quality, whose portraits the polite 
 world flocked to see. 
 
 " The desire of perpetuating the form of self-com- 
 placency crowded his sitting-room with women who 
 wished to be transmitted as angels, and with men who 
 wanted to appear as heroes or philosophers. From 
 Reynolds's pencil they were sure to be gratified. The 
 force and felicity of his portraits not only drew around 
 him the opulence and beauty of the nation, but happily 
 gained him the merited honour of perpetuating the 
 features of all the eminent and distinguished men of 
 
 * " The various portraits of Mr. Garrick," Malone is still 
 speaking, " of Dr. Johnson, Dr. Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh, 
 Dr. Goldsmith, Mr. Burke, Mr. Fox. Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Gibbon, 
 Lord Mansfield, Lord Thurlow, Lord Heathfield, Mr. Pott, 
 Mr. Boswell, Mr. Windham, and Mr. Cholmondeiey, are eminent 
 instances of the truth of this observation." Many more of equal 
 merit might be added to the list. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 121 
 
 learning then living ; with most of whom (so attractive 
 were his manners as well as his talents) he contracted 
 an intimacy which only ended with his life." 
 
 For a short time, however, he was successfully op- 
 posed by a " very mean competitor in art," who had 
 suddenly grown up into unmerited celebrity, and was 
 the idol of many fashionable circles. John Stephen 
 Liotard, a native of Geneva, distinguished by a long 
 beard and Turkish costume, which he wore to attract 
 observation, was the formidable rival of Reynolds. He 
 painted both in miniature and enamel, though, Northcote 
 observes, he seldom practised them, and is best known 
 bv his works in crayons. His likenesses were very 
 strong, too like to please those who sat to him ; and 
 thus he had great employment the first year, and very 
 little the second. Sir Joshua has thus described his 
 merit as an artist : — 
 
 " The onlv merit in Liotard's pictures is neatness ; 
 which, as a general rule, is the characteristic of a low 
 genius, or rather no genius at all. His pictures are 
 just what ladies do when they paint for amusement ; 
 nor is there any person, how poor soever their talents 
 may be, but in a very few years, by dint of practice, 
 may possess themselves of every qualification in the 
 art which this great man has got." Liotard was twice 
 in England, and stayed about two years each time : the 
 taste of Reynolds prevailed against his beard and gay 
 attire ; and though the contest was severe, it was very 
 shortly terminated. 
 
 With respect to the laborious, or what is called the 
 highly-finished, manner, Sir Joshua used to remark, 
 that "the high- finished manner of painting would be 
 chosen, if it were possible with it to have that spirit 
 and expression which infallibly fly off when the artist 
 labours : but these are transient beauties which last 
 
122 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 less than a moment, and must be painted in as little 
 time ; besides, in poring long the imagination is fatigued, 
 and loses its vigour. You will find nature in the first 
 manner ; but it will be nature stupid, and without 
 action. The portraits of Holbein are of this high- 
 finished manner; and for colouring and similitude 
 what was ever beyond them ? But then you see fixed 
 countenances, and all the features seem to remain im- 
 movable. Gerard Vanderwerf also — how spiritless are 
 his figures \" 
 
 In some of the following memoranda, written care- 
 lessly and in haste, at this period, we find allusions to the 
 fashionable prejudice in favour of Liotard ; and they af- 
 ford us some idea, observes Northcote, of the false taste 
 prevalent in England at the time : — 
 
 " It requires an uncommon share of boldness and 
 perseverance to stand against the rushing tide of 
 gothicism. A painter that would please, and has no 
 greater views than making his fortune, I should advise, 
 instead of studying the solemnity of Raffaelle, Poussin, 
 or the Caracci, to turn his eyes on the beautiful and 
 pleasing manner of painting that is practised by the 
 ingenious fan painters. There he will find what is so 
 often called out for, — ' Give me daylight.' In these 
 works he will find daylight enough ; and if he studies 
 the bright and beautiful colours there made use of, he 
 will merit the deserved and wished-for character of a 
 pleasing painter. But to be serious : I do not know so 
 despicable a character in the art as what is understood in 
 general as a pleasing painter ; nor any thing that gives 
 me a greater prejudice against a work than when I am 
 told I shah see a pleasing picture : such works are 
 commonly faint, spiritless, gaudy things ; how unlike the 
 divine and noble vigour of RafFaelle ! 
 
 " It is but a cold commendation to say of a painter 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 123 
 
 he pleases, and does no more. He ravishes; he trans- 
 ports with admiration ; he seeks to take possession 
 rather of your soul than of your eyes; such is the 
 character of a truly great painter. 
 
 " It is a melancholy reflection to a painter, who has 
 ambition, to think that a picture, painted in the stvle 
 and manner of the greatest masters, should not please 
 the nation where he is obliged to live. 
 
 " Those who are novices in connoissance judge of a 
 picture only by the name of the painter ; others, more 
 advanced in knowledge of art, have a desire to think 
 differently from the rest of the world in respect to the 
 most famous pictures ; and again, from that partiality 
 which men have to their own discoveries, will find out 
 merits in pictures universally condemned. 
 
 " A real painter should be above any regard to 
 pleasing the vulgar, whose judgment is sorely governed 
 by accident or caprice, and who are better pleased with 
 a tawdry and false taste than with the pure, simple, and 
 grand gusto of Raffaelle, which is too deep to be reached 
 by their superficial imaginations ; but artists should not 
 be content with admiring the effect: let them care- 
 fully examine into the causes ; and in so doing thev will 
 find more art and knowledge of nature than they are 
 aware of." 
 
 " In addition," says Northcote, " to his several bold, 
 because early, advances to a judicious and original stvle 
 in portrait painting, I may also record one which I 
 have seen,— a portrait painted at this time of a Captain 
 Orme, aide-de-camp to General Braddock. This picture 
 attracted much notice by its boldness and singularity. 
 It is a full length, wherein a horse is represented at 
 the side of the officer, — an effort m composition so new 
 to his barren competitors in art as must have struck 
 them with dismay ; for they dared not venture on such 
 
124 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 perilous flights of invention. It must be observed that 
 it is a sombre picture, yet it possesses great merit." 
 
 The quickness of Sir Joshua's perception in availing 
 himself of the accidents of nature is well illustrated by 
 an anecdote which he has himself recorded in his 
 manuscript remarks of this period. He had a picture 
 of one of the old masters hanging up in his painting- 
 room, to which he was himself particularly partial. " To 
 support," he says, " my own opinion of the excellence 
 of this picture by a high authority, I cannot forbear 
 
 the temptation of mentioning that Lord , whilst I 
 
 had the honour of painting his portrait, could not keep 
 from turning his eyes from me, and fixing them on this 
 picture in raptures, with such an expression in his 
 countenance as may be imagined from a man of his 
 tender feelings. I snatched the moment, and drew 
 him, as he then appeared to me, in profile, with as 
 much of that expression of a pleasing melancholy as 
 my capacity enabled me to hit off : when the picture 
 was finished he liked it, and particularly for that ex- 
 pression ; though I believe without reflecting on the 
 occasion of it." 
 
 In Newport Street Mr. Reynolds found his practice 
 increasing so rapidly, that it became necessary to 
 obtain some assistance ; and he accordingly engaged 
 Mr. Toms, an artist of much ability, whom Hogarth 
 used to call Reynolds's drapery-man, to forward the 
 preparation of his pictures. About the same time he 
 also received Thomas Beach and Hugh Barron as 
 pupils. His prices were now raised to a level with 
 those of Hudson, and in a few years afterwards still 
 farther increased.* His application, observes Fa- 
 
 * While Reynolds lived in St. Martin's Lane his prices were 
 ten, twenty, and forty guineas, for the three usual orders of por- 
 traits, a head, or three quarters, a half length, and whole length. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 125 
 
 rington, was great; having constantly occasion to re- 
 ceive five, six, or seven sitters daily ; and some of these 
 came frequently at the early hour of six in the morning ; 
 " such was his popularity, and the eager desire of 
 numbers to have their apartments graced with pro- 
 ductions which possessed the rare quality of uniting 
 the most faithful resemblance to the happiest traits of 
 expression. Yet notwithstanding this extraordinary 
 pressure of commissions, his care and attention never 
 relaxed, and the high reputation he had gained only 
 made him more anxious to increase it. The same una- 
 bated desire of improvement occasioned frequent altera- 
 tions in the progress of his pictures ; and it was often 
 long before he could satisfy himself." 
 
 During his residence in Newport Street, Reynolds 
 painted his celebrated portrait of Lord Ligonier on 
 horseback : — " A noble performance," says Farington, 
 "which may be classed with any of his after pro- 
 ductions for grandeur of composition and force of effect. 
 He had not attained his thirty- sixth year when he 
 executed this fine work, which showed at once his 
 
 Those of Hudson, at the same period, were twelve, twenty-four 
 and forty-eight guineas. Four or five years after Reynolds had 
 adopted the prices of his master, they both raised them to fifteen, 
 thirty, and sixty guineas. Northcote tells us, on the authority of 
 a letter of Dr. Johnson, that in 1758 the price of Reynolds for a 
 head was twenty guineas. It was, at this time, he continues, that 
 Reynolds found his profession the most lucrative ; as I have heard 
 himself confess, that at that time he received six sitters in the day, 
 and found it necessary to keep a list of the names of those who 
 waited until vacancies occurred : he then received them in the 
 order in which they were set down, and many of those portraits 
 were sent home before the colours were dry. He also kept a 
 portfolio in his painting-room, containing every print that had been 
 taken from his portraits ; so that those who came to sit had this 
 collection to look over, and if they fixed on any particular atti- 
 tude in preference, he would repeat it precisely, in point of 
 drapery and position. 
 
126 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 exquisite taste, and the depth of his knowledge in those 
 parts of the art to which he had devoted his incessant 
 attention. Nearly at the same period he painted a 
 whole-length portrait of the Duchess of Hamilton, the 
 beautiful Miss Gunning, and a smaller picture of her 
 sister, the Countess of Coventry. He also began a 
 portrait of the Duke of Marlborough ; but the head 
 only was finished when the Duke was ordered to join the 
 army in Germany, whence he never returned. 
 
 " The variety afforded by the nature of his practice 
 was happily suited to display the versatility of his 
 genius. To the soldier, a character which he has 
 always treated with peculiar energy, he could impart 
 that individuality which distinguishes one man, and 
 one hero, from another ; in female beauty and grace — 
 the delight of his pencil — he evinced the same 
 power of discrimination ; therefore not only the general 
 characters of grave, gay, young, and old, but their 
 several species, all contributed to supply the variety 
 for which his productions were so remarkable. In fact, 
 the capacities of portrait painting were never before 
 completely developed. 
 
 " It might be thought," his biographer continues, 
 " that the talents of Reynolds, to which no degree of 
 ignorance or imbecility in the art could be insensible, 
 added to his extraordinary reputation, would have ex- 
 tinguished every feeling of jealousy or of rivalship in 
 the mind of his master, Hudson ; but the malady was 
 so deeply seated as to defy the usual remedies applied 
 by time and reflection. Hudson, when at the head of 
 his art, admired and praised by all, had seen a youth rise 
 up and annihilate at once both his income and his fame ; 
 and he never could divest his mind of the feelings of 
 mortification caused by the loss he had thus sustained. 
 Hudson occasionally visited his pupil while he resided 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 127 
 
 in Newport Street : but neither his excellence nor his 
 prosperity were calculated to produce pleasure ; and 
 therefore the intervals of his visits gradually enlarged, 
 until they were altogether suspended, which took place 
 twenty years before his death. The latter years of his 
 life Hudson passed at a small villa he had built at Twick- 
 enham, where he died January 26, 1779, seventy-eight 
 years of age. 
 
 About two years after his return from Italy, Rey- 
 nolds was first introduced to Dr. Johnson, and their 
 intimacy continued without interruption till the death 
 of Johnson dissolved it. Accident made Reynolds 
 acquainted with the talent of this extraordinary 
 man, and furnished him with the opportunity of cul- 
 tivating his acquaintance. Happening to meet with 
 the life of Savage while in Devonshire, " he began 
 to read it," as Boswell informs us, " while he was 
 standing with his arm leaning against a chimney-piece. 
 It seized his attention so strongly, that, not being able 
 to lay down the book till he had finished it, when he 
 attempted to move, he found his arm totally be- 
 numbed." 
 
 When Johnson resided in Castle Street, Cavendish 
 Square, he used frequently to visit two ladies, who 
 lived opposite to Mr. Reynolds in Newport Street, — 
 Miss Cotterells, daughters of Admiral Cotterell ; and, 
 as Reynolds was also in the habit of visiting them, it 
 was here, says Malone, that the acquaintance, com- 
 menced. From the time that he first took up the life of 
 Savage, Reynolds had imbibed a very high opinion of its 
 author ; and as he was no less delighted with Johnson's 
 conversation, he gladly availed himself of the oppor- 
 tunity which offered itself, and " cultivated his ac- 
 quaintance with the laudable zeal of one who was 
 ambitious of general improvement. Sir Joshua was 
 
128 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 lucky enough," continues Malone, "to make a remark 
 at their very first meeting, which was so much above 
 the common-place style of conversation, that Johnson 
 at once perceived that Reynolds was in the habit of 
 thinking for himself. The ladies were regretting the 
 death of a friend, to whom they owed great obliga- 
 tions; upon which Reynolds observed, 'You have, 
 however, the comfort of being relieved from the 
 burden of gratitude.' They were shocked a little at 
 this alleviating suggestion as too selfish; but Johnson 
 defended it in his clear and forcible manner, and was 
 much pleased with the mind, the fair view of human 
 nature, which it exhibited, like some of the reflections of 
 Rochefoucault. The consequence was that he went 
 home with Reynolds, and supped with him. 
 
 " Sir Joshua told me," Malone still continues, " a 
 pleasant characteristic al anecdote of Johnson about the 
 time of their first acquaintance. When they were one 
 evening together at the Miss Cotterells, the then 
 Duchess of Argyle and another lady of high rank came 
 in. Johnson, thinking that the Miss Cotterells were 
 too much engrossed by them, and that he and his 
 friend were neglected, as low company of whom they 
 were ashamed, grew angry; and resolving to shock 
 their supposed pride, by making their great visiters 
 imagine they were low indeed, he addressed himself in 
 a loud tone to Mr. Reynolds, saying, ' How much do 
 you think you and I could get in a week if we were 
 to work as hard as we could ?' as if they had been common 
 mechanics.* 
 
 * Northcote has recorded several whimsical anecdotes of Dr. 
 Johnson who, it is well known, was remarkably uncouth in Ins gait 
 and action, and, at the same time, very slovenly in his dress ; so 
 much so as to attract the attention of passengers in the street. On 
 one occasion he was annoyed by an impertinent fellow who noticed 
 him and insultingly imitated him in so marked and so ludicrous 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 129 
 
 " How much Reynolds profited by his acquaintance 
 with this excellent and extraordinary man he intended 
 
 a manner that the Doctor himself could not avoid observing it, 
 and proceeded, without loss of time, to resent the affront. " Ah !" 
 said Johnson, who was a tall and a powerful man, " you are a 
 very weak fellow, and I will convince you of it," when imme- 
 diately he gave the man a blow, which knocked him out of the 
 footpath into the dirty street, where he fell flat on his back, and 
 the Doctor walked quietly on. 
 
 " A circumstance which Sir Joshua used to mention," continues 
 his biographer, " relative to Dr. Johnson, will give an idea of 
 the situation and mode of living of that great philosopher in the 
 early part of his life. 
 
 " Roubiliac, the famous sculptor, desired of Sir Joshua that he 
 would introduce him to Dr. Johnson, at the time when the 
 Doctor lived in Cough Square, Fleet Street. His object was to 
 prevail on Johnson to write an epitaph for a monument on which 
 Roubiliac was then engaged for Westminster Abbey. Sir Joshua 
 accordingly introduced the sculptor to the Doctor, they being 
 strangers to each other, and Johnson received them with much 
 civility, and took them up into a garret, which he considered as 
 his library ; in which, besides his books, all covered with dust, 
 there was an old, crazy deal table, and a still worse and older 
 elbow chair, having only three legs. In this chair Johnson seated 
 himself, after having, with considerable dexterity, and evident 
 practice, first drawn it up against the wall, which served to sup- 
 port it on that side on which the leg was deficient. He then took 
 up his pen, and demanded what they wanted him to write. On 
 this, Roubiliac, who was a true Frenchmen, as may be seen by 
 his works, began a most bombastic and ridiculous harangue on 
 what he thought should be the kind of epitaph most proper for 
 the purpose, all which the Doctor was to write down for him in 
 correct language ; when Johnson, who could not suffer any one 
 to dictate to him, quickly interrupted him in an angry tone of 
 voice, saying, ' Come, come, sir, let us have no more of this 
 bombastic, ridiculous rhodomontade, but let me know, in simple 
 language, the name, character, and quality of the person whose 
 epitaph you intend me to write." 
 
 " Such was the first interview," continues Northcote, " of two 
 men, both eminent for genius; and of Roubiliac, I may here re- 
 cord another anecdote respecting what took place on the return of 
 that sculptor from Rome, when he paid a visit to Reynolds, and 
 expressed himself in raptures on what he had seen on the Conti- 
 nent — on the exquisite beauty of the works of antiquity, and the 
 captivating and luxuriant splendour of Bernini. ' It is natural 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 K 
 
130 MEMOIR OP 
 
 to have particularly mentioned in the discourse which, 
 as I have already observed, he had it in contemplation to 
 compose. « I remember,' says he, « Mr. Burke, speak- 
 ing of the essays of Sir Francis Bacon, said, he thought 
 them the best of his works. Dr. Johnson was of 
 opinion " that their excellence and their value consisted 
 in being the observations of a strong mind operating 
 upon life ; and, in consequence, you find there what 
 you seldom find in other books." It is this kind of ex- 
 cellence which gives a value to the performances of 
 artists also. It is the thoughts expressed in the works 
 of Michel Angelo, Correggio, Raffaelle, Parmegiano, 
 and perhaps some of the old Gothic masters, and not 
 the inventions of Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Marati, Luca 
 Giordano, and others that I might mention, which we 
 seek after with avidity. From the former, we learn to 
 think originally. May I presume to introduce myself 
 on this occasion, and even to mention, as an instance 
 of the truth of what I have remarked, the very dis- 
 courses which I have had the honour of delivering 
 from this place ? Whatever merit they have must be 
 imputed in a great measure to the education which I 
 may be said to have had under Dr. Johnson. I do not 
 mean to say, though it certainly would be to the credit 
 of these discourses if I could say it with truth, that he 
 contributed even a single sentiment to them ; but he 
 qualified my mind to think justly. No man had, like 
 him, the faculty of teaching inferior minds the art of 
 thinking. Perhaps other men might have equal know- 
 ledge, but few were so communicative. His great 
 
 to suppose,' said he, ' that I was infinitely impatient till I had 
 taken a survey of my own performances in Westminster Abbey, 
 after having seen such a variety of excellence, and by tx— , my 
 own work looked, to me, meagre and starved, as if made of no- 
 thing but tobacco pipes.' " 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 131 
 
 pleasure was to talk to those who looked up to him : 
 it was here he exhibited his wonderful powers. In 
 mixed company, and frequently in company that ought 
 to have looked up to him, many, thinking they had a 
 character to support, considered it as beneath them to 
 enlist in the train of his auditors ; and to such persons 
 he certainly did not appear to advantage, being often 
 impetuous and overbearing. The desire of shining in 
 conversation was in him, indeed, a predominant passion ; 
 and if it must be attributed to vanity, let it at the 
 same time be recollected, that it produced that lo 
 quaciousness from which his more intimate friends de- 
 rived considerable advantage. The observations which 
 he made on poetry, on life, and on every thing about 
 us, I applied to our art ; with what success others must 
 judge. Perhaps an artist in his studies should pursue 
 the same conduct ; and instead of patching up a par- 
 ticular work on the narrow plan of imitation, rather 
 endeavour to acquire the art and power of thinking, 
 On this subject I have often spoken : but it cannot be 
 too often repeated that the general power of com- 
 position may be acquired ; and, when acquired, the 
 artist may then lawfully take hints from his prede- 
 cessors. In reality, indeed, it appears to me that a 
 man must begin by the study of others. Thus Bacon 
 became a great thinker by first entering into and 
 making himself master of the thoughts of other men.' " 
 
 Johnson soon became a frequent visiter at Reynolds's 
 house ; coming often to dinner without any ceremony ; 
 but Miss Reynolds's tea-table was his greatest attrac- 
 tion ; there he had the advantage of female society, 
 which he loved to indulge in when ladies would listen 
 without being too loquacious themselves. For Miss 
 Reynolds " he had the highest respect and veneration, 
 to such a degree," observes Northcote, " that some 
 k 2 
 
132 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 years after his first acquaintance with Sir Joshua, when 
 the company at Mr. Thrale's . were speculating upon 
 a microscope for the mind, Johnson exclaimed, 'I 
 never saw one that would bear it except that of my 
 dear Miss Reynolds; and hers is very near to purity 
 itself.'* 
 
 " There is no doubt," continues his biographer, '* that 
 Miss Reynolds gained much of his good will by her 
 good-humoured attention to his extraordinary predi- 
 lection for tea ; he himself saying that he wished his 
 tea-kettle never to be cold; but Sir Joshua having 
 once, whilst spending the evening at Mr. Cumberlatnd's, 
 reminded him of the enormous quantity he was swallow- 
 ing, observing that he had drank eleven cups, Johnson 
 replied, ' Sir, I did not count your glasses of wine ; why 
 then should you number up my cups of tea ?' 
 
 "Johnson's extravagant fondness for this refresh- 
 ment did not fail to excite notice wherever he went; 
 and it is related, though not by Boswell, that whilst on 
 his Scottish tour and spending some time at Dunvegan, 
 the castle of the chief of the Macleods, the dowager 
 Lady Macleod, having repeatedly helped him until she 
 had poured out sixteen cups, then asked him if a small 
 basin would not save him trouble, and be more agree- 
 able ? ' I wonder, madam' said he roughly, " why 
 all the ladies ask me such questions ; it is to save 
 yourselves trouble, madam, and not me.' The lady 
 
 • * It must, however, be remarked, that an intimacy with John- 
 son was always attended with a certain portion of inconvenience to 
 persons whose time was much occupied, as his visits, to those he 
 liked, were long, frequent, and very irregular in the hours. Rey- 
 nolds, at that time, dined at four o'clock, and immediately after 
 dinner tea was brought in for the Doctor, who, nevertheless, at 
 the usual hour, again took his share of it. After supper, too, he 
 was indulged with his favourite beverage, and he usually protracted 
 his stay till twelve or one o'clock, often ver)' much deranging, by 
 his immobility, the domestic economy of the house. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 133 
 
 was silent, and resumed her task. Every reader in 
 this place will recollect the so-often told anecdote of 
 his versification at Miss Reynolds's tea-table, when 
 criticising Percy's Reliques, and imitating his ballad 
 style ; — 
 
 " ' Oh, hear it, then, my Renny dear, 
 Nor hear it with a frown, 
 You cannot make the tea so fast 
 As I can gulp it down,' 
 
 "Dr. Johnson's high opinion of Sir Joshua was 
 formed at a very early period of their intimacy, and 
 increased instead of diminishing through life. Once at 
 Mr. Thrale's, when Sir Joshua left the room, Johnson 
 observed, ' There goes a man not to be spoiled by pro- 
 sperity.' And on another occasion he said, * A story is a 
 specimen of human manners, and derives its sole merit 
 from its truth : when Foote has told me something I 
 dismiss it from my mind like a passing shadow : when 
 Reynolds tells me something I consider myself as pos- 
 sessed of an idea the more.' " 
 
 In the year 1759 Mr. Reynolds produced his first 
 literary efforts, consisting of three papers for the Idler, 
 then conducted and chiefly executed by Johnson. They 
 are the numbers 76. 79. and 82., and will be found at- 
 tached to his discourses. " These papers," observes 
 Northcote, " may be considered as a kind of syllabus 
 of all his future discourses ; and they certainly occa- 
 sioned him some thinking in their composition. I 
 have heard Sir Joshua say," he farther remarks, " that 
 Johnson required them from him on a sudden emer- 
 gency, and on that account he sat up the whole night to 
 complete them in time ; and by it he was so much disor- 
 dered, that it produced a vertigo in his head. 
 
 " I may here add," Northcote continues, " that at the 
 time when he contributed to the Idler, he also com- 
 ic 3 
 
134 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 mitted to paper a variety of remarks which afterwards 
 served him as hints for his discourses ; and from these 
 unfinished memoranda I now insert a few of his first 
 thoughts, evidently drawn up as a matter of caution for 
 himself. 
 
 " Avoid that insipidity which is very commonly the 
 result when you take your ideas from any preceding 
 master. Salvator Rosa saw the necessity of trying some 
 new source of pleasing the public in his works. The 
 world were tired with Claude Loraine's and Gaspar 
 Poussin's long train of imitators. 
 
 " Salvator, therefore, struck into a wild, savage kind 
 of nature, which was new and striking. Sannaza- 
 rius, the Italian poet, for the same reason substituted 
 fishermen for shepherds, and changed the scene to 
 the sea. 
 
 " The want of simplicity in the air of the head, the 
 action of the figure, and the colour of the drapery, is 
 destructive of dignity. If a painter has a true taste for 
 simplicity, it will be discovered in every part of his 
 work, even his colouring : there is a pure, chaste mo- 
 desty, as it may be called, in opposition to a hold, 
 impudent, glaring colour, such as you see in ordinary 
 painters' works. 
 
 " Indeed the want of simplicity is the prevailing error 
 in most painters respecting their works. They are 
 apt to think they can never enrich their pictures too 
 much ; their colours are gaudy in the extreme : but what 
 I particularly object against is the violent love that 
 almost all of them have for contrast ; and I dare say 
 there is scarcely a painter but thinks he can never con- 
 trast his figures too much. 
 
 "The French writers on painting, which are the 
 hest we have, are fond of talking of contrast. ' If one 
 figure,' says Du Piles, ' is with the face towards you, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 135 
 
 let the next to it show his hack.' Those rules can 
 only proceed from a narrow-minded mechanical artist, 
 and not from one who has studied nature, the antique, 
 Raffaelle, or the Caracci. I do not mean to say that 
 such contrast will always have a mean effect ; but to 
 establish it as an inviolable rule is absurd, and tends to 
 destroy the greatest beauty of a painting', which should 
 represent pure, unaffected nature. By means of those 
 studied contrasts no figure so placed can appear eager 
 and intent on what he is about. It gives also a hurry 
 and confusion to the composition of the picture, and 
 of consequence the same hurry of imagination to the 
 spectator, and deprives the work of its most noble 
 quality, which is the majesty of repose. 
 
 " When I think of this high principle of the art, it 
 always brings to my mind the finest pictures at Bologna 
 by Ludovico Caracci, and the transfiguration by Raffaelle. 
 In this last every figure is animated, ardent, and intent 
 on what he is engaged in, but still with dignity : then 
 there is also a certain solemnity pervading the whole 
 picture which must strike every one with awe and 
 reverence that is capable of being touched by any excel- 
 lence in works of art. 
 
 " When I have stood looking at that picture from 
 figure to figure, the eagerness, the spirit, the close, 
 unaffected attention of each figure to the principal 
 action, my thoughts have carried me away that I have 
 forgot myself, and for that time might be looked upon 
 as an enthusiastic madman ; for I could really fancy the 
 whole action was passing before my eyes. How su- 
 perior is this power of leading captive the imagin- 
 ation to that of producing natural drapery ! Although 
 so natural, as the phrase is, it looks as if you could take 
 it up. A picture having this effect on the spectator, 
 he need not ask his cicerone whether it is a good 
 k 4 
 
136 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 picture or not, nor endeavour to criticise it by the help 
 of any rules he may have learned from books. 
 
 " But whilst others only admire the work, it is the 
 artist's business to examine from whence this effect 
 proceeds. I will take the liberty of giving a hint ; 
 others may carry it farther. The solemnity that the 
 picture first strikes you with proceeds from its not 
 having too much light, for the same reason that the 
 light of the evening is more solemn than the gay sun 
 at noonday : consequently he who would attempt the 
 heroic style in painting should never set his figures in 
 bright sunshine ; and it is for this reason I have often 
 said that Rubens's colouring, although a much more 
 esteemed colourist than Raffaelle, would degrade and 
 ruin Raffaelle' s pictures. 
 
 " Another excellence in the picture of the Trans- 
 figuration is the noble kind of harmony of the colour- 
 ing, — a quality, perhaps, this picture has never been 
 remarked for before. It is one of the vulgar errors to 
 imagine that a picture can never have too much har- 
 mony : hence painters, by breaking their colours too 
 much, reduce their picture to be an imitation of a 
 painting on a lady's fan, and entirely destroy its effect 
 when seen at any distance ; those broken colours being 
 too weak to preserve their proper degree of force. For 
 instance, the works of Luca Giordano, by an over- 
 fondness for this sort of harmony, when they are placed 
 at a distance from the spectator, look altogether like 
 the colour of milk and water. A very close comparison 
 may be made between the harmony of music and that 
 of painting. Music, of the soft, gentle, and delicate 
 kind, intended to be heard best when near, requires 
 the notes to be soft, and fall gently into each other, 
 without any harshness in their extremes ; whilst, on the 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 137 
 
 contrary, the more masculine and noble style of music, 
 such as marches, &c, should be bold and loud. 
 
 " The same rule applies to poetry. The smooth 
 numbers of Pope are not so grand as the masculine 
 style of Milton and Shakspeare. 
 
 " Rembrandt was harmonious rather too much ; he 
 wanted opposition. Luca Giordano was often the same, 
 but wanted that fine taste of colouring. Berghem was 
 too red. 
 
 "There cannot be found a better instance of breadth 
 and distinctness of light and shadow than in a figure 
 by Fiamingo in the church of St. Peter at Rome, — a 
 full-length statue of St. Bartholomew, four times the 
 size of life. The other statues which are near it 
 appear all of a mass, and make neither light nor 
 shadow. 
 
 "It is absolutely necessary that a painter, as the 
 first requisite, should endeavour, as much as possible, 
 to form to himself an idea of perfection, not only of 
 beauty, but of what is perfection in a picture. This 
 conception he should always have fixed in his view ; 
 and unless he has this view we shall never see any ap- 
 proaches towards perfection in his works ; for it will 
 not come by chance. 
 
 " If a man has nothing of that which is called genius, 
 that is, if he is not carried away, if I may so sav, by 
 the animation, the fire of enthusiasm, all the rules in 
 the world will never make him a painter. 
 
 " He who possesses genius is enabled to see a real 
 value in those things which others disregard and over- 
 look. He perceives a difference in cases where in- 
 ferior capacities see none ; as the fine ear for music 
 can distinguish an evident variation in sounds which to 
 another ear, more dull, seem to be the same. This 
 
138 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 example will also apply to the eye in respect to 
 colouring. 
 
 " One who has a genius will comprehend in his 
 idea the whole of his work at once ; whilst he who is 
 deficient in genius amuses himself with trifling parts 
 of small consideration, attends with scrupulous ex- 
 actness to the minuter matters only which he finishes 
 to a nicety, whilst the whole together has a very ill 
 effect. 
 
 "A painter should have a solid foundation in the 
 principles of his art ; so as to he able to vindicate his 
 works whenever they may be unjustly censured; and 
 not of such an unstable judgment as to estimate the 
 merit of his pieces by the money they will bring him. 
 The most general rule in the choice of subjects fit for 
 the purpose of the art is that of Horace : — 
 
 Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci, 
 Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo.'' " 
 
 Such were the desultory thoughts of one whose 
 practice was in strict accordance with his theory, and 
 whose works will convince us how pure are the sources 
 from which his views of art have been derived. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1760 Reynolds once 
 more changed his residence, and established himself in 
 a house in Leicester Square, which he inhabited during 
 the remainder of his life; but finding it, though large 
 and respectable, still insufficient for his professional 
 purposes, he was induced to erect a detached gallery, 
 painting rooms, and such other places of accommoda- 
 tion as his extensive practice required. Here he again 
 raised his prices to twenty-five, fiftv, and one hundred 
 guineas ; and engaged several other drapery painters 
 to assist him. " I have heard him observe," says 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 139 
 
 Northcote. " that no man ever acquired a fortune by the 
 work of his own hands alone." 
 
 The same biographer observes, with respect to 
 the permanent residence which he fitted up in 
 Leicester Square, " It may, perhaps, be gratifying to 
 voung beginners in the art to be informed of some 
 minute particulars concerning the apparatus of a painter 
 who was so successful and became so illustrious in his 
 profession. 
 
 " His painting room was of an octagonal form, about 
 twentv feet long, and about sixteen in breadth. The 
 window which gaye the fight to this room was square, 
 and not much larger than one half the size of a com- 
 mon window in a private house, whilst the lower part 
 of this window was nine feet four inches from the 
 floor. The chair for his sitters was raised eighteen inches 
 from the floor, and turned round on castors. His pal- 
 lets were those which are held by a handle, not those 
 held on the thumb. The sticks of his pencils were 
 long, measuring about nineteen inches. He painted in 
 that part of the room nearest the window, and never 
 sat down when he worked." 
 
 If the student should be equally accurate in mea- 
 suring the extent of advantages to be derived from the 
 study of Reynolds's works, as his pupil has been in the 
 dimensions of his painting room and apparatus, he will 
 now be well prepared with materials for the opening 
 of his professional career. 
 
 We may add to the preceding details, that " Sir 
 Joshua rose early, breakfasted at nine, entered his study 
 at ten, examined designs or touched unfinished portraits 
 till eleven brought a sitter, painted till four, then 
 dressd, and gave the eveening to company." 
 
 On removing to Leicester Square Reynolds set up a 
 handsome carriage, embellished in the ornamental 
 
140 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 manner of the time, and on the panels were painted 
 the four seasons of the year, very well executed, says 
 Northcote, by Charles Catton, R. A., the most eminent 
 coach-painter of his day. At the period alluded to 
 the panels of coaches exhibited , many interesting 
 specimens of art, and the coach-painter required, in a 
 great degree, the same professional education as the 
 painter of history. Poetic and allegorical subjects were 
 frequently required on these occasions, and they were 
 executed with a taste of colour and design, and a 
 freedom and delicacy of pencil, which were rarely dis- 
 played in the works of those artists, of the same period, 
 who devoted themselves exclusively to the higher 
 branches of the profession. Several painters, who 
 afterwards ranked high in the art as members of the 
 » Royal Academy, began their career in this department ; 
 indeed, at that time, it may be said to have afforded 
 the best of the few opportunities of employing his 
 pencil with advantage which presented themselves to 
 the rising artist. 
 
 Sir Joshua's coachman often got money by admitting 
 the curious to a sight of his carriage, which probably 
 displayed more fancy than usual ; and when Miss 
 Reynolds observed that it was rather too showy, Sir 
 Joshua replied hastily, " What ! would you have one 
 like an apothecary's carriage ?" 
 
 The expenses of this new establishment exhausted 
 almost the whole of the property which Reynolds had 
 previously realised by his profession ; but he felt him- 
 self secure of the future, for he now stood unrivalled 
 as a portrait painter, and that branch of the art which 
 he excelled in was sure to meet with liberal encourage- 
 ment. He continued to exert himself with unabated 
 zeal and assiduity, and his fame and his fortune in- 
 creased in proportion. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 141 
 
 Reynolds's table was now elegantly furnished, " and 
 round it," says Cunningham, " men of genius were 
 often found. He was a lover of poetiy and poets : they 
 sometimes read their productions at his house, and 
 were rewarded by his approbation, and occasionally bv 
 their portraits. Johnson was a frequent and a welcome 
 guest. Percy was there, too, with his ancient ballads 
 and his old English lore ; and Goldsmith with his 
 latent genius, infantine vivacity, and plum-coloured 
 coat. Burke and his brothers were constant guests, 
 and Garrick was seldom absent, for he loved to be 
 where greater men were. It was honourable to this 
 distinguished artist," continues Mr. Cunningham, " that 
 he perceived the worth of such men, and felt the 
 honour which their society shed upon him ; but it 
 stopped not here — he often aided them with his purse, 
 nor insisted upon repayment. It has, indeed, been said 
 that he was uncivil to Johnson, and that once, on 
 seeing him in his study, he turned his back on him 
 and walked out ; but to offer such an insult was as 
 little in the nature of the courtly painter as to forgive it 
 was in that of the haughty author.* Reynolds seems 
 
 * In allusion to a circumstance mentioned by Northcote, which 
 occured at an early period of their acquaintance, he tells us that 
 Johnson " frequently called in the evening, and remained to a late 
 hour, when Sir Joshua was desirous of going into new company, 
 after having been harassed by his professional occupations the 
 whole day. This sometimes overcame his patience to such a 
 degree, that one evening in particular, on entering the room where 
 Johnson was waiting to see him, he immediately took up his hat, 
 and went out of the house. Reynolds hoped by this means," con- 
 tinues Northcote, " that he would have been effectually cured ; 
 but Johnson persevered, and at last gained his friendship." 
 
 In a similar manner he acquired that of Richardson, whose 
 friendship he was desirous of cultivating, " and with this view 
 paid him frequent visits. These," says Northcote, " were received 
 very coldly by Richardson ; ' but,' observed the Doctor, in speaking 
 of this to a friend, ' I was determined to persevere till f had gained 
 my point ; because I knew very well that when I had once ovor- 
 
142 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to have loved the company of literary men more than 
 that of artists : he had little to learn in his profession, 
 and he naturally sought the society of those who had 
 knowledge to impart. They have rewarded him with 
 their approbation : he who has been praised by Burke, 
 and who was loved by Johnson, has little chance of 
 being forgotten." 
 
 Mr. Cunningham tells us elsewhere that " artists 
 are very willing to claim for their profession rather 
 more than the world seems disposed to concede ;" but 
 we think that on this occasion the author himself in- 
 dulges in the failing which he seems to consider as 
 peculiar to painters. The eulogy of Dryden did little 
 with posterity for Kneller, and the friendship and 
 highly coloured flattery of Pope could not rescue the 
 works of Jervas from oblivion. Their encomiums will 
 never do more than they have done for the artists on 
 whom they were lavished ; and if Reynolds has failed 
 to immortalise himself, he will be but little indebted to 
 the affection of Johnson, or the praises of Edmund 
 Burke, for higher claims to professional eternity. 
 The talent and celebrity of the artist drew around him 
 kindred spirits in literature, who would have been sum- 
 somed in vain by the agency of inferior powers ; and 
 they cannot be said to have shed greater lustre on 
 Reynolds than he reflected back upon them. Sir 
 Joshua was not a mere mechanic in art ': he was no 
 manufacturer of faces, as many of his immediate pre- 
 decessors had been. He was indebted for his fame to 
 the strength of his intellect, and the refinement of his 
 taste and his feeling.. He could boast of a mind that 
 
 come his reluctance and shyness of humour, our intimacy would 
 contribute much to the happiness of both.' The event verified 
 the Doctor's prediction." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 143 
 
 was highly susceptible of the beauties of elegant liter- 
 ature ; and though his acquirements were not in propor- 
 tion to the capacity which he displayed of acquiring, 
 yet they were fully sufficient to enable him to appreciate 
 the value of minds that were more highly cultivated 
 than his own, and to suggest to them matter, not con- 
 nected with his art, of which they themselves have ac- 
 knowledged the importance. 
 
 The period at which we have now arrived was dis- 
 tinguished by a memorable event in the annals of 
 British art. In the year 1760 the first public exhi- 
 bition was opened for the reception of the works of 
 modern painters, sculptors, and architects, who had till 
 then been unprovided with efficient means of making 
 themselves generally known. The first exhibition was 
 so satisfactory to the public, and its results so bene- 
 ficial to those who contributed to it, that it was shortly 
 afterwards succeeded by another. In a letter to Ba- 
 retti, Johnson thus alludes to it: — "The artists have 
 established a yearly exhibition of pictures and statues, 
 in imitation, I am told, of foreign academies. This 
 year was the second exhibition. They please them- 
 selves much with the multitude of spectators, and 
 imagine that the English school will rise much in re- 
 putation. Reynolds is without a rival, and continues 
 to add thousands to thousands, which he deserves, 
 among other excellences, by retaining his kindness for 
 Baretti. This exhibition has filled the heads of the 
 artists and lovers of art. Surely life, if it be not long, 
 is tedious ; since we are forced to call in the assistance 
 of so many trifles to rid us of our time — of that time 
 which can never return." 
 
 The feeling with which the latter sentence is written 
 has been attributed by some to " that kind of envy 
 which, perhaps, even Johnson felt, when comparing his 
 
144 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 own annual gains with those of Ms more fortunate 
 friends." Others have supposed that it is " rather to 
 he attributed to the sense and taste of Johnson, who 
 could not but feel the utter worthlessness of the far 
 greater part of the productions with which the walls 
 of the exhibition room were covered." There is, pro- 
 bably, some truth in both these remarks ; for though we 
 do not think Johnson capable of envy, yet the success 
 of an art which he considered as comparatively trifling, 
 when contrasted with the hardly- earned and scanty 
 profits which literature, even in his own giant hands, 
 was too often doomed to be restricted to, might natu- 
 rally have suggested a melancholy feeling, which would 
 have been as naturally embodied by Johnson in the 
 form of a moral reflection. With respect to the 
 " worthlessness" of many of the productions alluded 
 to, it is certain that the term has not been misapplied ; 
 for "the loaf and cheese that could provoke hunger, 
 the cat and Canary bird, and the dead mackarel on a 
 deal board," were among the most intellectual per- 
 formances which three fourths of the exhibition con- 
 sisted of ; and, what was worse, " though men of en- 
 lightened minds could distinguish and appreciate what 
 was excellent," yet " the admiration of the many was 
 confined to subjects either gross or puerile, and com- 
 monly to the meanest efforts of intellect." At the 
 same time, we think there is reason to believe that 
 Johnson had very little feeling for an art of which he 
 was more than usually ignorant, and that he really 
 attached much less importance to it, even in its most 
 comprehensive sense, than it is generally allowed to be 
 entitled to. 
 
 "At the first exhibition opened by the artists, the 
 catalogue," says Northcote, " was the ticket of admis- 
 sion by which whole companies could be admitted 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 145 
 
 but this mode was found by experiment to produce 
 little other than tumult, and it was then considered as 
 absolutely necessary to demand one shilling admission 
 from each person. Johnson, though he speaks so 
 superciliously of the arts, yet willingly employed his 
 pen in composing a preface to the catalogue, which 
 was then given gratis: but as this was a new regu- 
 lation, it was thought requisite by the artists to give 
 reasons to the public for the alteration ; and as John- 
 son has done this so well in his clear and forcible lan- 
 guage, explaining the nature and intention of the 
 exhibition, and also has given so essential a part of 
 historical information in the region of the arts, I appre- 
 hend no apology can be necessary for inserting it in 
 this place." 
 
 Preface to the Catalogue, as written by 
 Dr. Johnson. 
 
 " The public may justly require to be informed of 
 the nature and extent of every design for which the 
 favour of the public is openly solicited. The artists, 
 who were themselves the first promoters of an ex- 
 hibition in this nation, and who have now contributed 
 to the following catalogue, think it, therefore, neces- 
 sary to explain their purpose and justify their conduct. 
 An. exhibition of the works of art, being a spectacle 
 new in the kingdom, has raised various opinions and 
 conjectures among those who are unacquainted with 
 the practice of foreign nations. Those who have set 
 their performances to general view, have too often been 
 considered the rivals of each other; as men actuated, 
 if not by avarice, at least by vanity, and contending for 
 superiority of fame, though not for a pecuniary prize. 
 It cannot be denied or doubted, that all who offer 
 themselves to criticism are desirous of praise ; this 
 
 VOL. i. l 
 
146 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 desire is not only innocent, but virtuous, while it is 
 undebased by artifice and unpolluted by envy; and of 
 envy or artifice those men can never be accused, who, 
 already enjoying all the honours and profits of their 
 profession, are content to stand candidates for public 
 notice, with genius yet unexperienced and diligence 
 yet unrewarded; who, without any hope of increasing 
 their own reputation or interest, expose their names 
 and their works, only that they may furnish an oppor- 
 tunity of appearance to the young, the diffident, and 
 the neglected. The purpose of this exhibition is not 
 to enrich the artist, but to advance the art ; the emi- 
 nent are not flattered with preference, nor the obscure 
 insulted with contempt ; whoever hopes to deserve 
 public favour is here invited to display his merit. Of 
 the price put upon this exhibition some account may 
 be demanded. Whoever sets his works to be shown, 
 naturally desires a multitude of spectators ; but his 
 desire defeats its own ends, when spectators assemble 
 in such numbers as to obstruct one another. 
 
 "Though we are far from wishing to diminish the 
 pleasures, or depreciate the sentiments, of any class of 
 the community, we know, however, what every one 
 knows, that all cannot be judges or purchasers of works 
 of art. Yet we have already found by experience, that 
 all are desirous to see an exhibition. "When the terms 
 of admission were low, the rooms were thronged with 
 such multitudes as made access dangerous, and fright- 
 ened away those whose approbation was most desired. 
 
 " Yet, because it is seldom believed that money is got 
 but for the love of money, we shall tell the use that we 
 intend to make of our expected profits, Many artists 
 of great abilities are unable to sell their works for their 
 due price ; to remove this inconvenience, an annual 
 sale will be appointed, to which every man may send 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 147 
 
 his works, and them, if he will, without his name. Those 
 works will be reviewed by the committee that conduct 
 the exhibition ; a price will be secretly set on every 
 piece, and registered by the secretary ; if this piece is 
 sold for more, the whole price shall be the artist's ; but 
 if the purchasers value it at less than the committee, 
 the artist shall be paid the deficiency from the profits 
 of the exhibition." 
 
 The public exhibitions alluded to, which were the 
 first that had ever been opened in this country, appear 
 to have been accidentally suggested to the artists by 
 whom they were established. 
 
 Before the institution of the Royal Academy, the 
 artists of eminence residing in the metropolis had 
 formed themselves into a corporate society, for which 
 they afterwards obtained his Majesty's charter, on the 
 26th of January, 1765. They were enabled from the 
 produce of subscriptions, advanced by the members 
 themselves, to support a small academy in St. Martin's 
 Lane, at which many artists of subsequent eminence re- 
 ceived the rudiments of education in art.* British artists 
 
 * National schools, or academies, for the cultivation and encour- 
 agement of art, had long been established in Italy and France ; 
 but the first attempt towards the establishment of an academy in 
 England was made by several artists, at the head of whom was 
 Kneller, in the year 1711. Sir James Thornhill afterwards formed 
 an academy at his own house in the Piazza, Covent Garden ; but 
 this was only of ten years' duration, and died away in 1734. The 
 artists were then obliged to seek a new establishment, which it was 
 at that time peculiarly difficult to fix upon ; for such was the 
 ignorance of the day, that meetings of individuals for the object 
 of study were suspected of being held for immoral purposes. 
 After the death of Sir James Thornhill, some attempts were made 
 to continue the meetings which he had originated ; but of the 
 failure or success of these attempts we have now no authentic 
 information. The artists, however, did not long remain in this 
 unsettled state ; for a few of them, chiefly foreigners, finding them- 
 selves without the advantage of living models, formed a small 
 society, and established regular meetings for study in a convenient 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 had hitherto met with very little encouragement ; and 
 were, for the most part, reduced to seek the little which 
 they had from dealers in pictures, who undertook to 
 recommend their works to those who frequented their 
 shops, and appear to have made greater profit by them 
 than the artists who committed them to their charge ; 
 while, at the same time, they studiously concealed the 
 address of the artist from the purchaser. 
 
 After many ineffectual attempts to amend their pre- 
 carious and dependent situation, they thought of estab- 
 lishing a public academy, as the most likely means of 
 attracting general notice, and facilitating improvement 
 in their respective professional studies. But the ac- 
 
 apartment in Greyhound Court, Arundel Street, part of the house 
 of Mr Peter Hyde, who was himself a painter, and afterwards 
 went to Philadelphia. Mr. Moser was the principal conductor of 
 this establishment, which soon attracted the attention of contem- 
 porary artists, and was visited by Hogarth, Wills, kills, and 
 others who were so well pleased with the nature of the arrange- 
 ments' and the propriety with which the whole establishment was 
 conducted, that a general union of the artists took place, and it be- 
 came necessary to seek for more extensive accommodation. How 
 long the artists remained in Greyhound Court cannot now be as- 
 certained ; but they removed at length to Peter's Court, St. Martin s 
 Lane, and it is known that they were settled there before the year 
 1739 In this situation the academy continued till the year 17b/ , 
 when the artists removed to Pall Mall. The institution of the 
 Royal Academy in the year 1768, reduced the number of the 
 associated artists, and the greater part of those most distin- 
 guished by their talents became members of that institution, ine 
 schools of the new establishment offered greater advantages than 
 had been previously enjoyed by any others, and they shortly became 
 the only ones of any importance in the country. 
 
 It should, however, be remembered that, for all the advantages 
 of study which have here been enumerated, the artists of England 
 have been solely indebted to their own unremitting exertions. 
 Without any assistance from the government of their country, 
 they have struggled successfully through greater difficulties than 
 have ever presented themselves to the artists of other nations ; 
 and whatever may have been their dissensions among themselves, 
 they have ever united in advancing an art which has been 
 systematically neglected. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 149 
 
 complishment of this object, however desirable, was 
 found to be attended with so many difficulties, that after 
 several fruitless attempts to procure assistance from 
 the Dilettante and other societies, they were obliged 
 to relinquish the idea. Accident, however, as we have 
 already stated, eventually suggested to them the means 
 of improving their condition, which had latterly ap- 
 peared to be hopeless. The society was accustomed 
 to hold an annual meeting at the Foundling Hospital, 
 to commemorate the landing of King William ; and as 
 several of their body had made donations to this estab- 
 lishment of pictures, works of sculpture, &c, it was 
 observed that the artists who had so contributed, be- 
 came, in consequence, more generally known than 
 others ; and this remark first suggested the idea of an 
 annual and public exhibition. Encouraged by this 
 prospect, they lost no time in making the necessary 
 arrangements'; and the managing committee, who first 
 proposed the plan were directed by the general body 
 to issue proper notices of their intention. The per- 
 formances of many ingenious men, who had hitherto 
 been unknown to the society itself, were forwarded at 
 the time appointed ; and on the 21st of April, 1760, an 
 exhibition was opened at the great room belonging to 
 the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in 
 the Strand, and attended with a degree of success 
 which exceeded their most sanguine expectations. All 
 were delighted with the fortunate result of the scheme, 
 and a new and pleasing prospect seemed to open to the 
 arts and the artists. Connoiseurs and picture-dealers 
 were no longer in question; the public now knew 
 where to find those whose works had attracted their 
 attention, and could apply to the artists themselves 
 without the intervention of agents. 
 
 The artists now exerted their powers to the utmost ; 
 l 3 
 
150 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 great improvement was observed in each succeeding 
 exhibition, and the attention and encouragement of 
 the public was found to be proportionably excited. 
 The profits which resulted were more than sufficient 
 to defray the expenses of the society; and they were 
 not only enabled to relieve their less fortunate brethren, 
 their widows, and children, but to lay up a fund for 
 future occasions. 
 
 It is natural to conclude that the greatest artist in 
 the country was not indifferent to the success of a 
 plan which promised to be so extensively useful, and 
 four of Reynolds's pictures were accordingly sent to 
 the new exhibition, and there for the first time placed 
 before the public, with whom, by the channel now 
 opened, he continued in constant intercourse as long 
 as he lived. 
 
 The second exhibition was in a spacious room near 
 the Spring Garden entrance into the Park; and there 
 Reynolds sent his fine portrait of Lord Ligonier on 
 horseback, a portrait of Sterne, and three others. To 
 the third exhibition he sent his picture of Garrick 
 between Tragedy and Comedy, and two other por- 
 traits, and with the exception, we believe, of a single 
 year, continued his annual contributions till the esta- 
 blishment of the Royal Academy opened a wider field 
 for exertion, and a more extensive prospect to the 
 arts. 
 
 What had already been done was, however, import- 
 ant, " The works of English artists," observes Mr. 
 Farington, "had been hitherto seen only by a few, 
 and the greater part of the community knew absolutely 
 nothing of what was passing in the arts. Private col- 
 lections were then inaccessible, and there were no 
 public ones, nor any casual display of the productions 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 151 
 
 of genius except what the ordinary sales by auction 
 occasionally afforded."* 
 
 As the arts of the country continued to improve by 
 competition and general encouragement, so the na- 
 tional taste was observed to rise in proportion to the 
 changes effected. " The history of our exhibitions," 
 Farington continues, "affords the strongest evidence 
 of their impressive effect upon public taste. At their 
 commencement, though men of enlightened minds 
 could distinguish and appreciate what was excel- 
 lent, the admiration of the many was confined to sub- 
 jects either gross or puerile, and commonly to the 
 meanest efforts of intellect ; whereas at this time the 
 whole train of subjects most popular in the earlier ex- 
 hibitions have disappeared. The loaf and cheese that 
 could provoke hunger, the cat and canary bird, and 
 the dead mackerel on a deal board, have long ceased 
 to produce astonishment and delight ; while truth of 
 imitation now finds innumerable admirers, though com- 
 
 * The private collection of one noble individual did, however, 
 contribute materially to the advancement of art. 
 
 The Duke of Richmond, soon after his return from his travels, 
 opened an admirable school for the study of painting and sculp- 
 ture at his own house in Privy Gardens. It consisted of a gallery, 
 fitted with every convenience for the accommodation of students, 
 and furnished with a number of casts from the antique and modern 
 figures at that time in Rome and Florence. To this elegant school 
 young artists were invited by a public advertisement, and such as 
 availed themselves of so desirable an opportunity acquired a purer 
 taste in the knowledge of the human form than the artists of 
 England had before enjoyed the means of cultivating ; for the 
 gallery of the Duke of Richmond was the first school opened to 
 the country where the beauties of the antique could be studied. 
 
 The arts have also been much indebted to the Dilettante Society, 
 and the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, 
 and Commerce, which, previous to the establishment of the Royal 
 Academy, contributed greatly to the advance and encouragement 
 of art. 
 
152 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 bined with the high qualities of beauty, grandeur, and 
 taste. 
 
 "To our public exhibitions, and to arrangements 
 that followed in consequence of their introduction, 
 this change must be chiefly attributed. The present 
 generation appears to be composed of a new, and, at 
 least with respect to the arts, a superior order of be- 
 ings. Generally speaking, their thoughts, their feel- 
 ings and language differ entirely from what they were 
 sixty years ago. No just opinions were at that time 
 entertained on the merits of ingenious productions of 
 any kind. The state of the public mind, incapable of 
 discriminating excellence from inferiority, proved in- 
 controvertibly that a right sense of art in the spec- 
 tator can only be acquired by long and frequent ob- 
 servation; and that, without proper opportunities to 
 improve the mind and the eye, a nation would continue 
 insensible of the true value of the fine arts. 
 
 "The artists had now proved the efficacy of their 
 plan ; and their income, which exceeded their expendi- 
 ture, affording a reasonable hope of a permanent esta- 
 blishment, they thought themselves entitled to solicit 
 a royal charter of incorporation ; and having applied to 
 his majesty for that purpose, he was pleased to assent 
 to their request. This measure, however, which was 
 intended to consolidate the body of artists, was of no 
 avail ; on the contrary, it was probably the cause of its 
 dissolution ; for in less than four years a separation 
 took place, which led to the establishment of the Royal 
 Academy, and finally to the extinction of the Incor- 
 porated Society. 
 
 " The dissolution of the incorporated body of artists 
 was owing to the indiscriminate admission of members. 
 At the period of the separation the number amounted 
 to one hundred and forty-one ; of whom a large pro- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 153 
 
 portion were, necessarily, of a very inferior order. 
 When the society was first instituted, due respect was 
 shown to the eminent artists, who, hy the propriety of 
 their conduct, and the esteem in which they were 
 held, gave dignity to it ; and, by their excellent per- 
 formances, contributed much to the popularity of the 
 exhibitions. They were, therefore, for a while, con- 
 sidered to be the persons most proper to have a large 
 share in the government of the society. While that 
 sentiment prevailed, it proceeded with success. But it 
 was not long before ambitious desires began to operate ; 
 and the votes at elections, being equal, many of the 
 members who had little title to confidence and dis- 
 tinction aspired to the direction of the institution ; and 
 by combining together, they were by their numbers 
 enabled to effect their purpose. They ejected two- 
 thirds of the respectable members who filled the offices 
 of trust, and placed themselves in their room; and 
 forming a majority, outvoted those whom they had 
 permitted to remain. The principal artists (of whom 
 Reynolds was one), seeing the impossibility of restoring 
 order and proper subordination, after some vain at- 
 tempts, soon withdrew from this society, and without 
 delay formed another plan, in which they avoided the 
 errors which caused the destruction of the incorporated 
 body they had quitted. It was now seen that no society 
 of this kind could be lasting, unless it were more limited 
 in its number and select in the choice of its members ; 
 and that it could have no national dignity without the 
 avowed and immediate patronage of the sovereign. 
 Happily there were artists among the seceding 
 members who, in the situations in which they were 
 placed, had opportunity to state these sentiments to 
 his majesty, who graciously approved the proposal 
 submitted to him, and directed that the plan should 
 
154 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 be carried into execution ; and thus in a short time the 
 Royal Academy was established. 
 
 " During the dissensions in the Incorporated Society, 
 Mr. Reynolds took, no active part; and his apparent 
 neutrality caused it to be believed that he did not ap- 
 prove the proceedings of those who retired from it. 
 On the subject of the disunion Mr. Strange, the cele- 
 brated engraver, published a book, in which he bitterly 
 arraigned the conduct of those who had seceded ; and, 
 in his account of the cause and effect of the separation, 
 he states that Mr. Reynolds said — ' He would not ex- 
 hibit with either society/ and he proceeded to reproach 
 him with having given up this resolution when tempted 
 with the offer of the presidency of the Royal Academy 
 then forming, and an assurance that he would receive the 
 honour of knighthood." 
 
 It must be confessed that, on the face of this exparte 
 statement, the conduct of Reynolds was not marked 
 with that propriety by which it was usually distin- 
 guished. But if we look to the other side of the 
 question, it is clear that the government of the Incor- 
 porated Society of Artists was either very badly or 
 very loosely administered. It would seem that a party 
 of interested and ambitious men, with no regard for 
 the general welfare of the Institution, or for the 
 mutual good understanding of its members, were suf- 
 fered to disturb it with continual broils, and to make 
 the offices which they held, or the numerical supe- 
 riority which they possessed, the means of increasing 
 their power, to the detriment of the rest of the associ- 
 ated artists, and to the prejudice of the respectability 
 of the society as a body. Occasional irregularities 
 may be expected to occur in all instances where men 
 of opposite views and principles are brought unavoid- 
 ably together, the most active and enterprising will 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 155 
 
 generally be foremost, and unless they are restrained 
 by salutary and effective laws, enforced with judicious 
 discrimination, and with the necessary promptitude and 
 decision, may be encouraged to take advantage of 
 their favourable position, and to menace the indepen- 
 dence of their associates. But, in the instance before 
 us, the long continuance of irregular proceedings, often 
 complained of but never redressed, seems to indicate 
 that either the laws were inefficient, or that thev were 
 but very feebly administered. The same causes might 
 be expected to operate, on all future occasions, on the 
 same body of individuals, and the expulsion of one set 
 of intriguing men would only serve to make room for 
 another as dangerous. Reynolds probably foresaw 
 that no essential improvement could reasonablv be ex- 
 pected in the government of the society he belonged 
 to, and that the arts themselves would be degraded in 
 proportion to the weakness of those who were appa- 
 rently unfit or unable to uphold them. The plan on 
 which the new Institution was founded might be sup- 
 posed to hold out better hopes of its rational govern- 
 ment. But Reynolds could not be induced to become 
 a member of it, although he had withdrawn himself 
 from the rival society, till it was firmly established on 
 a basis which could not be shaken, and supported by 
 royal encouragement and protection. When this was 
 accomplished, there were grounds for believing that the 
 Royal Academy would be a national benefit, and he 
 yielded to the pressing solicitations of its members in 
 accepting the office of president. 
 
 That the prospect of knighthood, and the presidency 
 of the Royal Academy, were not beheld by Mr. Rev- 
 nolds with indifference, we are fully prepared to allow ; 
 but that these advantages alone could have tempted 
 him to abandon a society of which he had professed 
 
156 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 himself the friend and supporter, we cannot persuade 
 ourselves to admit. We cannot discover in his con- 
 duct on the occasion any circumstances tending to 
 confirm such an opinion ; and we find in the general 
 estimation of his character sufficient grounds for in- 
 ducing us to reject it, unless supported by evidence 
 much stronger than that which has fallen under our 
 observation. Indeed, his conduct throughout appears 
 to have been not only consistent, but uniformly regu- 
 lated by good sense and good feeling, never placed in 
 opposition to each other ; and few men, perhaps, have 
 ever united these qualities with greater advantage, or 
 preserved them so invariably without the sacrifice of 
 either, from the commencement to the close of his 
 career. 
 
 In the hope of advancing the interests of the art, 
 while he forwarded his own honest views of advance- 
 ment, he enrolled himself a member of the society of 
 artists, and continued to support it by every means in 
 his power while it was possible to do so with effect. 
 When he found that its government was badly ad- 
 ministered, and left entirely in the hands of ambi- 
 tious and designing men, who consulted their own 
 private interests alone while they sacrificed those of 
 the society, he refused to act longer in conjunction 
 with them, and withdrew himself entirely from the 
 discussion of measures which he could neither control 
 nor approve. He still continued, however, to afford 
 them the advantage of his works, and did not quit them 
 while a prospect remained of any good to be derived 
 from their existence as a body. 
 
 In the year 1762 Reynolds produced his celebrated 
 picture of Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy, for 
 which the Earl of Halifax paid three hundred guineas. 
 He had it long in contemplation, Northcote informs us, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 157 
 
 to paint a picture of Garrick on a more extended scale, 
 with the idea of displaying his various powers as an 
 actor. The principal figure in the front was to have 
 been a full length of Garrick, in his own proper dress, 
 in the act of speaking a prologue, and surrounded by 
 groups of figures representing him in all the different 
 characters in which he excelled on the stage. This 
 scheme Sir Joshua mentioned to Garrick at the time 
 he was painting his portrait. The actor was delighted 
 with the idea, and exclaimed, " That will be the very 
 
 thing I desire ; the only way, by , that I can be 
 
 handed down to posterity." The picture, however, was 
 never begun, and we may safely conclude, with North- 
 cote, that Sir Joshua, " on mature consideration, foresaw 
 that the subject was not eminently calculated to make a 
 good composition for a painting." 
 
 On one occasion, when the Bishop of St. Asaph was 
 sitting to Reynolds, the conversation turned on Gar- 
 rick ; and the Bishop asked how it was that the talents 
 of this extraordinary actor had never had the effect of 
 producing others to rival him, even in a moderate de- 
 gree ? " Partly," replied Sir Joshua, " because they all 
 imitate him, and then it became impossible : as this was 
 like a man's resolving to go always behind another ; and 
 while this resolution lasts, it renders it impossible that he 
 should ever be on a par with him." 
 
 At another time, when Garrick was complaining to 
 Sir Joshua of the daily sarcasms with which he was 
 annoyed by Foote, the comedian, Reynolds answered 
 that, in doing so, Foote gave the strongest proofs pos- 
 sible of sensibly feeling his own inferiority, as it was 
 always the lesser man who condescended to become 
 malignant and abusive. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1762 Reynolds, having 
 impaired his health by incessant application, again 
 
158 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 paid a visit to his native country, accompanied by his 
 friend Dr. Johnson, with whom he was entertained at 
 the seats of several noblemen and gentlemen in the 
 west of England. During their stay at Plymouth, they 
 were the guests of Dr. John Mudge, then a surgeon, 
 and afterwards an eminent physician of that town, 
 for whom Sir Joshua had the greatest regard. To the 
 father of this gentleman, we have already observed, 
 Reynolds was materially indebted for the habit of think- 
 ing philosophically, and particularly for the power of 
 abstract reasoning which he employed so successfullv in 
 his professional labours. 
 
 Sir Joshua gratified his companion with a sight of 
 the Dock-yard and other parts of the naval establish- 
 ment at Plymouth, and proposed a trip to the Eddystone 
 light-house, which, however, the bad state of the weather 
 prevented. 
 
 " It was about this time," observes Northcotc, 
 " that I first saw Sir Joshua ; but I had seen several 
 of his works which were in Plymouth (for at that time 
 I had never been out of the county), and those pic- 
 tures filled me with wonder and delight, although I 
 was then very young ; insomuch that I remember when 
 Reynolds was pointed out to me at a public meeting, 
 where a great crowd was assembled, I got as near to 
 him as I could from the pressure of the people, to touch 
 the skirt of his coat, which I did with great satisfaction 
 to my mind." 
 
 A similar impulse of youthful enthusiasm urged 
 Reynolds to press forward and touch the hand of Pope, 
 and the feeling is as honourable to the pupil as to his 
 instructor.* Having completed his little tour, and 
 
 * In the year ] 771, Northcote was first placed under the tuition 
 of Reynolds, to whom he was introduced and strongly recom- 
 mended by Dr. John Mudge. " If I might now be suffered to 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 159 
 
 succeeded in a great measure in the restoration of his 
 health, Sir Joshua returned to his labour in the metro- 
 polis ; indeed, says Northcote, he possessed the true 
 
 say a little of myself," says the enthusiastic pupil, " I would de- 
 clare, that I feel it next to impossible to express the pleasure I 
 received in breathing, if it may be so said, in an atmosphere of 
 art ; having, until this period, been debarred not only from the 
 practice of the art itself, but even from the sight of pictures of any 
 excellence, as the county of Devon, at that time, did not abound 
 with specimens, and even those few which are scattered about 
 that country I had no opportunity of ever seeing; and as from the 
 earliest period of my being able to make any observation, I had 
 conceived him (Sir Joshua) to be the greatest painter that ever 
 lived, it may be conjectured what I felt when I found myself in 
 his house as his scholar." 
 
 Young Northcote, says another biographer*, acquired skill 
 rapidly under Sir Joshua : he, ere long, painted one of" the female 
 servants so like nature, that a tame macaw, a great favourite with 
 Reynolds, and occasionally introduced into his pictures, mistook 
 the painting for the original, against whom it had a grudge, and 
 flew to attack the canvass with beak and wing. The experiment 
 of the creature's mistake was several times repeated with the 
 same success, and Reynolds compared it to the ancient painting, 
 where a bunch of grapes allured the birds. " I see," said he, 
 " that birds and beaists are as good judges of pictures as men." 
 
 " It seems remarkable, that of eight or nine pupils, some of 
 whom, at their com mencement, indicated considerable talent, Mr. 
 Northcote should be the only one who has attained distinction. 
 Possibly this fortunate exception," observes Mr. Farington, " was 
 owing to his havimg sought that distinguished tuition at a later 
 period of his life than is usual, and at a time, too, when his in- 
 structor was less occupied with commissions, and himself with a 
 mind more dispose d to reflection than might be reasonably ex- 
 pected at an earlier age. 
 
 "To those who have slightly considered the subject of educa- 
 tion, and especially in art, the circumstance here alluded to must 
 appear extremely paradoxical, although, in fact, it is precisely 
 what might be expe cted. The school of Sir Joshua resembled a 
 manufactory, in which the young men who were sent to him for 
 tuition were chiefly occupied in copying portraits, or assisting in 
 draperies and preparing back-grounds. The great pressure of his 
 
 * Mr. Cunningham. 
 
160 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 enthusiasm of a profession in as great a degree, per- 
 haps, as any man ever did; he never was so happy 
 as when in his painting room, and has often confessed 
 that when he has complied with the invitations of the 
 nobility to spend a few days of relaxation with them 
 at their country seats, though every luxury was 
 afforded which could possibly be desired, " yet he 
 always returned home like one who had been kept so 
 long without his natural food, and that if he made a 
 visit for three days, it required three days more on 
 his return, before he could recover his usual train of 
 thinking." 
 
 " The man will never make a painter," he was accus- 
 tomed to say, *' who looks for the Sunday with pleasure 
 as an idle day." 
 
 None of Sir Joshua's hours were ever spent in idle- 
 ness, or lost in dissipation ; and on those evenings which 
 he spent at home, after his daily occupation was past, he 
 employed himself in looking over and studying from the 
 prints of the old masters, of which he had procured a fine 
 collection. 
 
 business required not only his own unceasing diligence, but that 
 every hand he could command should be employed, to enable him 
 to execute the numberless commissions that poured in upon him. 
 The consequence was, that his pupils had very little time for deli- 
 berate study, and that which was left them after the application 
 they had given in the day was usually spent in relaxation from 
 labour." 
 
 In this manner years passed away without any solid improve- 
 ment. While his pupils remained under the eye of their master, 
 by constantly working upon or copying his pictures, they seemed 
 to be doing much ; but on their leaving him, they soon discovered 
 their mistake in the total absence of all independent ability. Not 
 having been sufficiently accustomed to think for themselves, they 
 looked to his pictures for every thing ; and submitting their minds 
 to excellence so captivating, their thoughts extended no farther. 
 Nature was seen by them only through his medium, and when 
 deprived of that aid they gradually exposed their imbecility. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 1C1 
 
 Among the friends in whose society his evenings 
 were occasionally spent, the Cotterells were still num- 
 bered ; and at their house he and Johnson were frequent 
 visiters. 
 
 By a letter from Johnson to Baretti, written after 
 the Doctor's return to the metropolis from his tour 
 in the west of England, we find that Reynolds was 
 then in the receipt of 6000/. a year. The expense 
 of his establishment in Leicester Square has been 
 calculated at 2000/. a year; — "a considerable sum," 
 observes Farington, " according to the value of money at 
 that time ; but he wisely judged that to be a prudent 
 expenditure, which procured him the advantages" of 
 such society as he was in the habit of assembling round 
 his table ; among which " were daily seen, in larger or 
 smaller numbers, poets, historians, divines, men cele- 
 brated for their scientific knowledge, philosophers, 
 lovers of the arts, and others ; Johnson and Goldsmith 
 were of those who most frequently attended ; and it was 
 in such company that he gradually improved his mind, 
 and formed his taste for literary composition," and his 
 habit of thinking correctly. 
 
 " Such an example at the head of the arts," con- 
 tinues Mr. Farington, " had the happiest effect upon 
 the members of the profession. At this time, a change 
 in the manners and habits of the people of this country 
 was beginning to take place. Public taste was im- 
 proving. The coarse familiarity so common in personal 
 intercourse was laid aside ; and respectful attentions 
 and civility in address gradually gave a new and better 
 aspect to society. The profane habit of using oaths in 
 conversation no longer offended the ear ; and bacchana- 
 lian intemperance at the dinner-table was succeeded by 
 rational cheerfulness and sober forbearance." 
 
 "No class of society manifested more speedy im- 
 
 VOL. I. m 
 
162 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 provement than the body of artists. In the example 
 set by Sir Joshua Reynolds, he was supported by some 
 of his contemporaries, who were highly respected for 
 the propriety of their conduct and gentlemanly de- 
 portment. So striking was the change, that a much- 
 esteemed artist, far advanced in life, being a few years 
 since at a dinner-table surrounded by men of his own 
 profession, recollecting those of former times, remarked 
 the great difference in their manners, adding, ' I now see 
 only gentlemen before me.' Such is the influence of 
 good example."* 
 
 * " This notice of the great change in public manners and habits 
 naturally produces a vivid recollection of some curious and extra- 
 ordinary inconsistencies that prevailed, even in the highest ranks 
 of society It has been thought that attention to personal appear- 
 ance has a moral good effect in tending to self-respect : there is, 
 however, proof sufficient, that, though advantageous on many 
 accounts, it contributes but little to elevate the mind to a senti- 
 ment corresponding with such studied care of outward show. One 
 of the characteristics of the last age was splendour of dress in the 
 higher orders, which was imitated throughout the subordinate 
 classes of societies as far as circumstances would allow. With 
 this ostentation, there was much ceremony on public occasions ; 
 and in private intercourse a proportion of it was observed. The 
 different orders of citizens were rigidly separated by a high car- 
 riage on the one part, and a careful forbearance on the other ; yei, 
 with all this apparent show and polish, much brutality was 
 mingled, and great and general licentiousness pervaded all the 
 ranks of the community ! 
 
 " Hogarth, in depicting the character and manners of his day, 
 has shown, in various of his scenes, that vice and debauchery 
 triumphed every where — not in secrecy and concealment, but in 
 the most open manner. The high-dressed beau and the low 
 libertine were similar in profligate indulgence. Licentious con- 
 versation commonly made part, often the greatest part, of the 
 amusement at the dinner-table, where hospitality usually ended 
 in extreme intemperance. Such were the manners of the people 
 little more than half a century ago. 
 
 " If other evidence were wanting, an obvious proof of this 
 great moral amendment is to be found in the actual state of the 
 drama. The productions of our later dramatists are free from the 
 shameless grossness that too frequently debased the wit of our pre- 
 decessors, and has left a stigma on the character of the age that 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 163 
 
 la the year 1764, Mr. Reynolds, in conjunction with 
 Dr. Johnson, established the Literary Club ; " a society," 
 observes Malone, " which can boast of having had en- 
 rolled among them many of the most celebrated charac- 
 ters of the present century." 
 
 Reynolds was the first proposer of these meetings ; 
 and the number of the members selected was originally 
 confined to twelve. " These were men of such talent," 
 continues Malone, " and so well known to each other, 
 that any two of them, if they should happen to be joined 
 by more, were presumed to be good company for each 
 other. 
 
 The original members were Mr. Reynolds, Dr. John- 
 son, Mr. Burke, Dr. Nugent, Mr. Langton, Mr. Chamier, 
 Sir John Hawkins, the Honourable Topham Beauclerc, 
 
 could tolerate it. Within the same period, the formalities of 
 etiquette and dress have been materially relaxed ; perfect freedom 
 of manners have been reconciled with perfect decorum ; the orders 
 of society have been blended, and the distinctions of rank gradually 
 softened by an easy unrestrained intercourse. 
 
 " It would not be difficult to show that the general reformation 
 of mind and manners has not confined itself to the circles of pri- 
 vate life •, but, in union with public spirit, it has displayed itself 
 in the foundation of numerous societies for the diffusion of 
 knowledge and the cultivation of industry, the relieving the dis- 
 tresses and correcting the vices incident to human nature. 
 
 " In the benefits derived from the improved state of society the 
 fine arts have largely participated. They may, perhaps, be said to 
 have in some degree contributed their assistance in the great work 
 of moral reform, inasmuch as the direction which productions of 
 art give to the public mind tends to refine as well as to amuse. 
 The Royal Academy and the British Institution — establishments 
 originating in the patriotic exertions of private individuals — have 
 received the sanction of royal patronage, and the reward of public 
 favour and encouragement. 
 
 "Thus, those arts which are calculated to aid and illustrate re- 
 ligion and morality, to gratify the feelings of affection by preserv- 
 ing the images of love and attachment; to display the beauties of 
 nature in all her variety, and to embellish and ornament a great 
 country ; are now cherished with a liberal regard to their value." 
 is 2 
 
]64 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and Dr. Goldsmith : Mr. Samuel Dyer, Sir Robert 
 Chambers, and Lord Charlemont were soon afterwards 
 elected.* 
 
 The names mentioned below, of the early members 
 of the Literary Club, should be fully sufficient to convey 
 an idea of its brilliant assemblage of talent ; but if other 
 proof be wanting, the following letter from Sir William 
 (then Mr.) Jones will afford it : — 
 
 Mr. Jones to the Bishop of St. Asaph. 
 
 " November 23. 1780. 
 " My Lord, — Had I not been prevented by particular 
 .business from writing to your Lordship on Tuesday 
 evening and vesterday, I would have informed you before, 
 that we had done ourselves the honour (and a very great 
 one we shall esteem it) of electing your Lordship a 
 member of our club. The election was, of course, 
 unanimous, and it was carried with the sincere appro- 
 
 * They at first met once a week, on Monday evenings, at the 
 Turk's Head in Gerrard Street; but in the year 1775, instead of 
 supping together once a week, they agreed to dine together once 
 a fortnight during the sitting of parliament ; and the number of 
 ihe members gradually increased to thirty-five ; but was limited, 
 Malone says, to forty. Garriek and Coleman, Gibbon, Sir 
 William Jones, Dr. Adam Smith, Mr. Thomas Warton, Lord 
 Ashburton ; Dr. Shipley, Bishop of St. Asaph ; Mr. Vesey ; Dr. 
 ilinchliffe, Bishop of Peterborough ; Mr. Richard Burke, Mr. 
 Boswell, the Marquess of Bath ; Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore ; 
 Mr. Fox, Sir Charles Bunbury, Dr. George Fordyce, Sir Joseph 
 Banks, Sir William Scott, Lord Spencer, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. 
 Windham, Mr. Steevens ; Dr. Barnard, Bishop of Limerick ; Dr. 
 J. Warton; Dr. Marley, Bishop of Waterford ; Lord Ossory, 
 Lord Lucan, Lord Eliot, Sir William Hamilton, Dr. Barney, 
 Lord Palmerston, Dr. Warren, Lord Macartney, Mr. Courtenay, 
 the Duke of Leeds; Dr. Douglas, Bishop of Salisbury; Sir 
 Charles Blagden, Major Reynel, the Rev. Dr. Farmer, the 
 Honourable Frederick North, and Mr. Malone, were members 
 (at different periods) of this talented association ; but twenty-one 
 of the number were dead when the individual last mentioned 
 published his life of Sir Joshua. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 165 
 
 bation and eagerness of all present. I am sorry to add, 
 that Lord Camden and the Bishop of Chester were re- 
 jected. When bishops and chancellors honour us with 
 offering to dine with us at a tavern, it seems very ex- 
 traordinary that we should reject such an offer;" but 
 there is no reasoning on the caprice of men. Of our 
 club, I will only say, that there is no branch of human 
 knowledge on which some of our members are not 
 capable of giving information ; and I trust, that as the 
 honour will be ours, so your Lordship will receive some 
 pleasure from the company, once a fortnight, of some of 
 our first writers and critics, as well as our most virtuous 
 senators and accomplished men. I think myself highly 
 honoured in having been a member of this society near 
 ten years, and chiefly in having contributed to add such 
 names to the number of our friends, as those of your 
 Lordship and Lord Althorpe." 
 
 The Bishop's answer was as follows : — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — You were prevented by Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds in your kind intentions of giving me the 
 earliest notice of the honour you have clone me. I 
 believe Mr. Fox will allow me to say that the honour 
 of being elected into the Turk's Head Club is not in- 
 ferior to that of being the representative of Westminster 
 or Surrey. The electors are certainly more disin- 
 terested ; and I should say they are much better judges 
 of merit, if they had not rejected Lord Camden and 
 chosen me. 
 
 " I flatter myself with the hopes of great pleasure and 
 improvement in such society as you describe, which is 
 the only club of which I ever wished myself a member." 
 
 Sir John Hawkins informs us that the celebrated 
 Mrs. Montague invited the club for two successive 
 
16G 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 vears to a dinner at her house. " Curiosity," he adds, 
 was her motive ; and possibly a desire of intermingling 
 with our conversation the charm of her own. She 
 affected to consider us as a set of literary men, and 
 perhaps gave the first occasion for distinguishing the 
 society by the name of the 'Literary Club;' a dis- 
 tinction which it never assumed to itself."* 
 
 * About the year 1770, Sir Joshua, as mentioned by Mr. Cum- 
 berland, formed one of a very pleasant society, which, without 
 having the name of a club, was accustomed to dine, on stated days, 
 at the British Coffee-House. This society, he remarks, was com- 
 posed of men of the first eminence for their talents ; and, as there 
 was no exclusion, by the regulations, of any member's friend or 
 friends, the parties were continually enlivened by the introduction 
 of new guests, who naturally furnished new sources of convers- 
 ation, from which politics and party seemed, by general consent, 
 to be decidedly proscribed. "Such a society," observes North- 
 cote, " might no doubt have been highly agreeable ; but its de- 
 scription, thus strongly marked by Mr. Cumberland, seems rather 
 drawn up in contradistinction to the Literary Club, of which he 
 was not a member. This society at the British Coffee-House 
 must, however, with the exception of Johnson's conversation, have 
 made him amends for exclusion from the other ; for here were 
 Foote.Fitzherbert, Garrick, Macpherson ; Doctors Carlisle, Robin- 
 son, and Beattie ; Caleb Whiteford ; and though last, not least, Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, who introduced Goldsmith as a member imme- 
 diately previous to the representation of ' She Stoops to Conquer.' 
 
 " It was about this time, too, that the so often told circumstance 
 of the Epitaphs took place. The occurrences which led to this 
 display of witticism," continues Northcote, "have been variously 
 detailed ; I shall, therefore, insert Mr. Cumberland's account of 
 it, as it contains some particulars not otherwise generally known. 
 
 " He says, that it was on a proposal started by Edmund Burke, 
 that a party of friends who had dined together at Sir Joshua's, and 
 at his house, should meet at the St. James's Coffee-House ; which 
 accordingly took place, and the meeting was occasionally repeated 
 with much festivity and good fellowship. Dr. Barnard, Dean of 
 Derry ; Dr. Douglas, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury; Johnson, 
 Garrick, Sir Joshua, Goldsmith, Edmund and Richard Burke ; 
 Hickey, an attorney, an Irishman, and a friend of the Burkes', 
 commemorated by Goldsmith ; constituted the party. It was at 
 one of these meetings that the idea was suggested of extempore 
 epitaphs upon the parties present ; and Garrick, off-hand, with a 
 good deal of humour, wrote the epitaph upon poor Goldsmith, who 
 was the first in jest, as he proved in reality, that was committed to 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 167 
 
 In the summer of the year 1765, Mr. Reynolds 
 was attacked by a very violent and dangerous illness ; it 
 was not, however, of very long duration ; and his reco- 
 very was cheered by the following affectionate letter 
 from Dr. Johnson, at that time on a visit in North- 
 amptonshire.* 
 
 " To Joshua Reynolds, Esq., in Leicester Fields, London. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I did not hear of your sickness till I 
 heard likewise of your recovery ; and therefore I es- 
 
 the grave. The Dean also gave him an epitaph ; and Sir Joshua 
 illuminated the Dean's verses with a sketch of his bust in pen and 
 ink, which Mr. C. states to have been inimitably caricatured ; but 
 this does not appear to me like an act of Sir Joshua's, nor did I 
 ever hear it mentioned by any other author. 
 
 "These circumstances were, of course, sufficient to prompt Gold- 
 smith to his well-known poem of ' Retaliation,' which, however, 
 was written with such good temper as to show that he was fully 
 convinced of the plensantries of his friend having been solely pro- 
 duced by the harmless mirth of the moment. It is probable that 
 whoever reads this memoir," continues Northcote, " must have 
 already seen that celebrated poem, yet still his delineation of Sir 
 Joshua is too accurate to be omitted. 
 
 ' Here Reynolds is laid ; and to tell you my mind, 
 He has not left a better, or wiser behind ; 
 His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand, 
 His manners were gentle, complying, and bland ; 
 Still born to improve us in every part, 
 His pencil our faces, his manner our heart ; 
 To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering, 
 "When they judged without skill, he was still hard of hearing ; 
 When they talked of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, 
 He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff.' " 
 These were the last lines, says Malone, that the author wrote. 
 He had written half a line more of this character, when he was 
 seized with the nervous fever which carried him in a few days 
 to his grave. He intended to have concluded with his own 
 
 addition to the lines of Goldsmith, Northcote has quoted 
 some of Cumberlands on Sir Joshua, and an admirable jeu 
 d'esprit of Caleb Whiteford's, replete with genuine humour. 
 
 * We may observe, that in this year England lost one of its 
 I rightesl ornaments, in Hogarth. 
 
 M 4 
 
168 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 caped that part of your pain, which every man must 
 feel, to whom you are known as you are known to me. 
 Having had no particular account of your disorder, I 
 know not in what state it has left you. If the amuse- 
 ment of my company can exhilarate the languor of a 
 slow recovery, I will not delay a day to come to you ; 
 for I know not how I can so effectually promote my 
 own pleasure as by pleasing you, or my own interest 
 as by preserving you ; in whom, if I should lose you, 
 I should lose almost the only man whom I call a friend. 
 Pray let me hear of you from yourself or from dear 
 Miss Reynolds. Make my compliments to Mr. Mudge. 
 " I am, dear Sir, 
 " Your most affectionate and 
 
 " Most humble servant, 
 
 " Samuel Johnson." 
 
 In 1765, Mr Reynolds exhibited a whole-length por- 
 trait of Lady Sarah Bunbury, in which she is repre- 
 sented as sacrificing to the Graces. Previous to this, 
 he had painted an excellent whole-length portrait of 
 Lady Elizabeth Keppel, in the dress she wore as 
 bridemaid to the Queen ; and in the same exhibition 
 he had another portrait of Lady Waldegrave ; of which 
 Mr. Barry, in a letter to Dr. Sleigh, says, " We have 
 had two exhibitions since I wrote to you ; the pictures 
 that struck me most were Lady Sarah Bunbury sa- 
 crificing to the Graces, and Lady Waldegrave ; they are 
 some of Mr. Reynolds's best works, which is the greatest 
 character they can have." 
 
 It was in this year that Johnson's edition of Shak- 
 speare made its appearance, for which he had published 
 proposals in 1756, and had latterly shown but little 
 inclination of fulfilling his engagements. The fact is 
 (says Northcote), that Johnson had undertaken the 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 169 
 
 work at a period when he was obliged to be a literary- 
 drudge for his livelihood, and merely on account of 
 the profits it would afford him ; but it never was an 
 object of his desire. In the mean time he became 
 possessed of the pension of 300/. per annum, from 
 the bounty of his Majesty George III. ; and that task 
 which before was undertaken from necessity only, now 
 became loathsome to him, and he could not summon 
 up sufficient resolution to go on with it. It was not 
 till Sir Joshua and some other of his friends con- 
 trived to entangle him in a wager for its completion 
 at a given period, that he could be prevailed on to sit 
 down in earnest to the work, to which Reynolds him- 
 self contributed some notes, with the view, as North- 
 cote imagines, of encouraging Johnson to proceed. 
 In these efforts Reynolds showed his good sense and 
 good feeling ; and his deficiency on those points only, 
 observes Mr. Cunningham, " where no one could have 
 expected him to excel — black-letter reading and old 
 dramatic lore. He had neither the daring ingenuity 
 of a Warburton, nor the philosophical sagacity of a 
 Johnson ; but he tasted with as deep a feeling as either 
 the rich excellence of the great dramatist." 
 
 " Artists of eminence now rose thick and fast. 
 Barry had made his appearance under the affectionate 
 patronage of Edmund Burke ; West landed from Italy to 
 exhibit himself in the character of an historical painter ; 
 and the names of others of scarcely less note began to 
 be heard of. But the ascendancy of Reynolds was still 
 maintained : he had charmed effectually the public eye ; 
 and kept the world chained to him by the strong and 
 endearing link of variety*." 
 
 Wilson and Gainsborough at this time stood high 
 in the art; but " the love of landscape painting 
 spread very slowly ; so slow," adds Mr. Cunningham, 
 
170 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 " that, after the sale of a few of his works among the 
 more distinguished lovers of the art, Wilson could not 
 find a market for the fruits of his study, and had the 
 mortification of exhibiting pictures of unrivalled beauty 
 before the eyes of his countrymen in vain." Gains- 
 borough was scarcely more successful : his best land- 
 scapes stood ranged in long lines from his hall to his 
 painting-room ; and they who came to sit to him for 
 their portraits, for which he was chiefly employed, 
 rarely deigned to honour them with a look as they 
 passed them. 
 
 West's picture of " Pylades and Orestes," painted 
 shortly after his arrival from Italy, and one of his very 
 best works, was universally praised and admired, but 
 no one offered to purchase it. " As any attempt hi 
 history," says Northcote, " was at that period an al- 
 most unexampled effort, this picture became a matter 
 of much surprise. The painter's house was soon filled 
 with visiters from all quarters to see it ; and those 
 among the highest rank, who were not able to come to 
 his house to satisfy their curiosity, desired his per- 
 mission to have it sent to them ; nor did they fail, every 
 time it was returned to him, to accompany it with 
 compliments of the highest commendation on its great 
 merits. But the most wonderful part of the story is," 
 continues Northcote, " that, notwithstanding all this 
 vast bustle and commendation bestowed upon this 
 justly admired picture, by which Mr. West's servant 
 gained upwards of thirty pounds for showing it ; yet no 
 one mortal ever asked the price of the work, or so much 
 as offered to give him a commission to paint any 
 other subject. Indeed, there was one gentleman so 
 highly delighted with the picture, and spoke of it with 
 such great praise to his father, that he immediately 
 asked him the reason he did not purchase, as he so 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 171 
 
 much admired it ; when he answered, ' "What could 
 I do with it, if I had it ? You would not surely have me 
 hang up a modern English picture in my house, un- 
 less it were a portrait ?' " 
 
 Cotes and Ramsay shared in some degree the public 
 favour with Reynolds ; " for each of those painters 
 had employment from the Court, where Reynolds, as 
 an artist, was never able to become a favourite. From 
 that source of envied and enviable honour, he had not 
 the happiness of receiving a single commission; for it 
 is to be observed, that those exquisite portraits of the 
 King and Queen, now in the council-room of the Royal 
 Academy, were painted at the request of Reynolds 
 himself, purposely for that place."* 
 
 * George III., even long after the death of Sir Joshua, was 
 not an admirer of his works : he thought them coarse and un- 
 finished ; and, in particular, disliked that roughness of surface by 
 which they are usually distinguished. This feeling was probably, 
 in some degree, occasioned by the habit of looking at pictures 
 closely, which, as his Majesty was very near sighted, he always in- 
 dulged in when practicable ; and it may also have partly originated 
 in a taste for highly finished performances, in the usual acceptation 
 of the term, in which smoothness of surface and minute attention 
 to detail are generally among the leading characteristics. But 
 whatever may have been instrumental in producing the feeling to 
 which we allude, his Majesty has frequently expressed it to those 
 artists who had the honour of access to his person ; and on one 
 occasion, a painter of eminence, who enjoyed a considerable share 
 of royal patronage, took the liberty of suggesting, when encouraged 
 to do so by his Majesty, that, unless they chance to be of very 
 small dimensions, no pictures are intended to be looked at closely ; 
 and that, when removed to the proper distance from the eye, that 
 roughness of surface to which the king objected, might contribute 
 to their force and their brilliancy ; that a too close inspection of 
 any large picture would effectually prevent the spectator from em- 
 bracing its merit as a whole ; and that the general arrangement of 
 Sir Joshua's pictures constituted one of their greatest beauties, 
 and was the point to which he particularly devoted his attention, 
 as being the most difficult of attainment and the most important 
 in conducing to the proper effect of his work — even to that of its 
 
172 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Cotes lived only two years after the establishment 
 of the Royal Academy, of which he was a member, 
 and one of the four who signed the petition to his Ma- 
 jesty soliciting its foundation. Hogarth considered 
 him superior to Reynolds as a portrait painter ; and if 
 an exact and well-finished representation of nature 
 must be considered as the highest excellence in art, 
 the opinion of Hogarth was correct. The portraits of 
 Cotes were artist-like fac-similes ; and many of them 
 have so striking an air of identity, that they might 
 
 detail.* His Majesty acknowledged the general truth of these 
 remarks, but could never wholly divest himself of the prejudice 
 which he had formerly entertained. Under such an impression, 
 however, he conferred on Sir Joshua the honour of knighthood ; 
 and condescended to state that he wished him to resume the pre- 
 sidency of the Royal Academy, when circumstances had induced 
 him to resign it. It reflects the highest honour on George III., 
 that he did not allow his own private feeling to operate on those 
 occasions ; and that he was able to sacrifice it to public opinion, 
 and to the laudable desire of promoting the arts and encouraging 
 the artists of his realm. To his Majesty alone, without any recom- 
 mendation, or any assistance from his ministers, we are indebted 
 for the institution of the Royal Academy ; the expenses of which, 
 to a considerable amount, were supplied from the king's privy 
 purse, till the profits of the Exhibition enabled its members to 
 provide for the wants of the establishment. Charles I. had a 
 higher relish for the beauties of art, and may be said on that ac- 
 count to have gratified his own private feeling in the encourage- 
 ment which he afforded to it : but George III., under the influence 
 of a less powerful stimulus of this nature, and actuated chiefly by 
 a sense of public good, and a just impression of what is expected 
 from the head of a powerful nation, did more for the honour and 
 advantage of the country over which he extended his paternai 
 rule, than any of the monarchs who preceded him ; so far, at least, 
 as the encouragement and the diffusion of art may be said to be 
 honourable and advantageous. 
 
 * Sir Joshua has observed, in his Fourteenth Discourse, that 
 ** a steady attention to the general effect takes up more time, and 
 is much more laborious to the mind, than any mode of high finish- 
 ing or smoothness, without such attention." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 173 
 
 almost be mistaken for the living individuals repre- 
 sented. But here the range of the painter terminates : 
 when the object placed before him ceases to guide 
 him, he cannot advance a step further. His works 
 could never have altered the character of the British 
 school, nor pointed out to his successors in art the means 
 by which nature may be rendered subservient to the 
 intellectual powers of the artist, and embellished with 
 graces beyond the reach of those who limit their views of 
 her to mere imitation. 
 
 Ramsay is said to have been a self-taught painter, 
 " because he had received no instructions," says 
 Northcote, " till he gave them to himself in Italy ; as 
 every good painter has done before him, either there 
 or elsewhere. But his being the compatriot of the 
 Earl of Bute was a ready passport to royal notice on 
 his return, particularly when added to his own abilities. 
 He was certainly superior to the artists of his time in 
 general ; though his excellence did not warrant Wal- 
 pole in classing him so exactly with Sir Joshua, when 
 he said — ' Reynolds and Ramsay have wanted sub- 
 jects, not genius.' But I have heard Sir Joshua say," 
 his pupil shrewdly remarks, " that Ramsay was the 
 most sensible man of all living artists ; and therefore 
 it proved that something besides good sense is required 
 to make a painter." 
 
 At several periods, while Sir Joshua resided in 
 Leicester Square, he was successfully opposed bv 
 Romney, who occasionally engrossed a greater share 
 of public patronage than Reynolds. There were two 
 decided parties in the metropolis ; and the Romney 
 party was not only numerous, but loud in the praises 
 of its favourite painter.* Garrick, in allusion to a 
 
 * The late Lord Chancellor Thurlow, when at an advanced age, 
 sat to Mr. Phillips for his portrait, and, in the course of convert- 
 
174 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 celebrated dramatist of his time, said, " He hates 
 vou, Sir Joshua, because you do not admire the painter 
 whom he considers as a second Correggio." — " Who 
 is that?" replied Reynolds. — "Why, his Correggio," 
 answered Garrick, " is Romney !" 
 
 But neither the change in public opinion, nor the 
 visible decrease in the number of his commissions,- 
 could disturb the equanimity of Sir Joshua : he con- 
 tinued to apply himself steadily and calmly to the 
 daily labours of his profession ; and when the fashionable 
 world became weary of their idol, he beheld the return 
 of his former popularity with as little emotion as he 
 experienced at the loss of it. 
 
 Few men have, like Reynolds, possessed the power 
 of calling back public attention to themselves, after it 
 had been diverted into other channels ; but Sir Joshua, 
 in the course of his long and brilliant career, em- 
 bracing a period of nearly forty years, has repeatedly 
 done so with triumphant success ; and his name stood 
 as high at the time of his decease, as it did at the 
 height of his practice. His reputation, in fact, was 
 not grounded on caprice, or dependent on sources 
 
 ation, sometimes questioned him respecting the state of the art. 
 " At one time" said his Lordship, " there were two factions con- 
 tending for superiority ; the Reynolds faction and the Romney 
 faction: I was," he added, "oflhe Romney faction." And in 
 giving his opinion of Sir Joshua, he told Mr. Phillips that he 
 considered him to be a " a great scoundrel and a bad painter," — 
 in allusion, perhaps, to the changes, which at one time were fre- 
 quent, in the colouring of Reynolds's pictures. 
 
 " It is remarkable," observes Mr. Farington, " that Lord 
 Thurlow could hold the opinion he did ; as the portrait of his 
 Lordship painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is one of his finest 
 productions ; but the powers of Lord Thurlow appear to have been 
 confined to his own profession, and did not extend to matters of 
 taste. His judgment respecting poetry is said to have been no less 
 deficient than it was on the subject of painting." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 175 
 
 which he could not command as well at one period as 
 another : and if we allow that his wealth, and his in- 
 fluence in society, may have greatly contributed to 
 enable him to maintain his position, and to bear up 
 against the attractions of novelty, which rarely display 
 themselves in vain ; still it must be recollected, that 
 for these advantages he was originally indebted to the 
 power of his genius, to the vigour and solidity of his un- 
 derstanding, and to his great and incessant exertions. 
 
 Romney was a painter of considerable talent ; but 
 he was not of Reynolds's calibre ; and the world has 
 already judged between them. He had the good sense, 
 however, to avoid a close encounter with his adver- 
 sary ; and when asked, in later years, whv he did not 
 send his pictures to be exhibited at Somerset House 
 (where Reynolds always sent his most impressive 
 works), he answered, with a smile, " Because I knew 
 better." 
 
 Barry, at the commencement of his professional 
 career, was indebted to Sir Joshua for much valuable 
 advice ; and he was not, at that time too proud to be 
 grateful for it. While a student at Rome, he received 
 the following letter from Reynolds ; the first part of 
 which alludes to a contest in which Barry was engaged 
 with the picture-dealers there, " who were acting verv 
 illiberally towards young English artists, and using un- 
 derhand means to prevent their being employed by tra- 
 vellers, especially in copying pictures." 
 
 "Dear Sir, — I am very much obliged to you for 
 your remembrance of me in your letter to Mr. Burke, 
 which, though I have read with great pleasure as a 
 composition, I cannot help saying, with some regret 
 to find that so great a portion of your attention has 
 been engaged upon temporary matters, which might 
 
176 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 have been so much more profitably employed upon what 
 would stick by you through your whole life. 
 
 " Whoever is resolved to excel in painting, or indeed 
 in any other art, must bring all his mind to bear upon 
 that one object, from the moment he rises till he goes 
 to bed. The effect of every object that meets the 
 painter's eye may give him a lesson, provided his mind 
 is calm, unembarrassed with other objects, and open 
 to instruction. This general attention, with other 
 studies connected with the art, which must employ 
 the artist in his closet, will be found sufficient to fill 
 up life, if it were much longer than it is. Were I in 
 your place, I should consider myself playing a great 
 game, and never suffer the little malice and envy of 
 my rivals to draw off my attention from the main 
 object; which if you pursue with a steady eye, it 
 will not be in the power of all the Cicerones in 
 the world to hurt you. While they are endeavouring 
 to prevent the gentlemen from employing the young 
 artists, instead of injuring them, they are, in my 
 opinion, doing them the greatest service. Whilst I 
 was at Rome, I was very little employed by them, and 
 that I always considered as so much time lost : copying 
 those ornamental pictures which the travelling gentle- 
 men alwavs bring home with them as furniture for 
 their houses, is far from being the most profitable 
 manner of a student spending his time. 
 
 "Whoever has great views, I would recommend to 
 him, whilst at Rome, rather to live on bread and water 
 than lose those advantages which he can never hope 
 to enjoy a second time, and which he will find only in 
 the Vatican, where, I will engage, no cavalier sends his 
 students to copy for him. I do not mean this as any 
 reproach to the gentlemen : the works in that place, 
 though thev are the proper study of an artist, m;ake 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 177 
 
 but an awkward figure painted in oil and reduced to 
 the size of easel pictures. The Capella Sistina is the 
 production of the greatest genius that was ever em- 
 ployed in the arts ; it is worth considering by what 
 principles that stupendous greatness of style is produced , 
 and endeavouring to produce something of your own 
 on those principles will be a more advantageous method 
 of study than copying the St. Cecilia in the Borghese, 
 or the Herodias of Guido, which may be copied to 
 eternity without contributing one jot towards making a 
 man a more able painter. 
 
 " If you neglect visiting the Vatican often, and par- 
 ticularly the Capella Sistina, you will neglect receiving 
 that peculiar advantage which Rome can give above 
 all other cities in the world. In other places you will 
 find casts from the antique and capital pictures of the 
 great masters, but it is there only that you can form an 
 idea of the dignity of the art, as it is there only that 
 you can see the works of Michel Angelo and Raftaelle. 
 If you should not relish them at first, which mav pro- 
 bably be the case, as they have none of those qualities 
 which are captivating at first sight, never cease looking 
 till you feel something like inspiration come over you, till 
 you think every other painter insipid in comparison, and 
 to be admired only for petty excellencies. 
 
 " I suppose you have heard of the establishment of 
 a Royal Academy here; the first opportunity I have, 
 I will send you the discourse I delivered at its opening, 
 which was the 1st of January. As I hope you will 
 be hereafter one of our body, I wish you would, as 
 opportunity offers, make memorandums of the regu- 
 lations of the academies that you may visit in your 
 travels, to be engrafted on our own, if they should be 
 found useful. 
 
 " I am, with the greatest esteem, yours, 
 
 " J. Reynolds. 
 
 vol. i. n 
 
178 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " On reading my letter over, I think it requires some 
 apology for the blunt appearance of a dictatorial style, 
 in which I have obtruded my advice. I am forced to 
 write in a great hurry, and have little time for polishing 
 my style." 
 
 This letter was written in the year in which the 
 Royal Academy was first opened ; and Barry says, in a 
 letter to Mr. Burke, of the early part of the same 
 year, before he had heard of Reynolds's knighthood, 
 and, probably, before he had received Sir Joshua's 
 letter, "I am happy to find Mr. Reynolds is at the 
 head of the Academy; from his known public spirit, 
 and warm desire of raising up art amongst us, which 
 exerted itself so successfully in establishing the exhi- 
 bition, he will, I have no doubt, contrive this institu- 
 tion to be productive of all the advantages that could 
 possibly be derived from it; and whilst it is in such 
 hands as his we shall have nothing to fear from those 
 shallows and quicksands upon which the Italian and 
 French academies have lost themselves :" and on 
 another occasion, in the same year, he wrote from Paris 
 to Mr. Burke, whilst speaking of the paintings of Ver- 
 sailles, — " What I have since seen gives me more and 
 more reason to admire Mr. Reynolds ; you know my 
 sentiments of him already, and the more I know and see 
 of the art, the less likely they are to change." 
 
 On hearing that Reynolds had been knighted, he 
 says, in another letter to Mr. Burke, " I have a notion, 
 somehow or other, that the arts would be just now of 
 some consequence, and pretty much of a public con- 
 cern, did not the state competitors, of whom the papers 
 are so full, divert the attention of the public into an- 
 other channel. However, I can say with truth, that 
 as nobodv is more an enthusiast in art than I am, so 
 there is no one who rejoices more sincerely at the 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 179 
 
 honour done art by the title and dignity his Majestv 
 has graciously conferred on that person, whose plan of a 
 public exhibition has been as serviceable to the art as his 
 performances were. The public opinion will supply what 
 I would say." 
 
 We have already observed, that the turbulent and 
 irregular conduct of several members of the Associated 
 Society of Artists gave rise to the establishment of the 
 Royal Academy, which was opened on the 2d of January, 
 1769 ; and on this occasion the President, Mr. Rey- 
 nolds, delivered a most appropriate and excellent dis- 
 course, for which the thanks of the General Assembly of 
 Academicians were given to him ; and shortly after he 
 received the honour of knighthood. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds was now in the fortyrsixth year 
 of his age: "his superior excellence in the art," Mr. 
 Farington remarks, " was acknowledged by the unani- 
 mous votes which placed him in the chair of the Royal 
 Academy — a situation in which he was enabled to 
 display, in his admirable discourses, the extent of his 
 knowledge of the principles of an art which he so 
 highly adorned by his practice; and to inculcate, by 
 precepts founded upon long observation and matured 
 experience, lessons of wise instruction for the student, 
 and calculated to excite in the public mind respect for 
 an art in which he showed that (with the most favour- 
 able talents) excellence could not be attained without 
 great mental and bodily application. But it was not by 
 the productions of his professional skill and cultivated 
 taste only, that Sir Joshua Reynolds attracted admiration 
 ■ — his exemplary moral conduct, his amiable and well- 
 regulated temper, the polished suavity of his manners, a 
 deportment always easy and affected, made his society 
 agreeable to everv one." 
 
 " His attention to the annual exhibitions was unre- 
 x 2 
 
ISO 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 mitting, and his example admirable. His situation of 
 President, and his high claim, from the superlative 
 excellence of his pictures, never caused him to avail 
 himself of those circumstances to obtain any particular 
 regard to his own works. He was only anxious that 
 the display should be advantageous, and that the ex- 
 hibitors should be satisfied with the attention shown 
 to their productions. His gallery was open, from 
 whence pictures might be taken in such number as 
 might be required ; and if he expressed any wish con- 
 cerning them, it was that a portion, at least, should be 
 placed in situations accounted least favourable for 
 viewing them ; thereby to reconcile others to their neces- 
 sary lot." 
 
 '''He had great pleasure in viewing the exhibition 
 of each year, and in his observations he was gentle and 
 encouraging ; for no man could be more free from 
 jealousy. He always appeared to take great delight 
 in remarking the extraordinary variety shown in the 
 practice of British artists, which, he said, was not to 
 be seen in any other country. The independence of 
 the national character, he thought, was apparent even 
 in our works of art, which, through all their gradations 
 of merit, showed that they were the productions of men 
 who thought for themselves; and who, regardless of 
 the paths beaten by others, followed the bent of their 
 own inclinations." 
 
 " From the time of his being made President of the 
 Royal Academy, Sir Joshua did all in his power to 
 realise the earnest desire of his Majesty, that his in- 
 stitution should be no less respectable as a national 
 establishment than useful in its purposes. It was with 
 a view to improve the liberal character of the society 
 that he suggested the idea of admitting in its body 
 certain honorary members, eminent for their learning, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 181 
 
 who, while they added grace to the institution, re- 
 ceived from it an honour worthy of their distinguished 
 talents. Accordingly, soon after the Royal Academy 
 was established, his Majesty was graciously pleased to 
 nominate Dr. Johnson Professor of Ancient Literature, 
 Dr. Goldsmith Professor of Ancient History*, and 
 Richard Dalton, Esq., his Majesty's Librarian, Anti- 
 quary to the society. Dr. Francklin, Greek Professor 
 at Cambridge, was also appointed Chaplain to the 
 Academy. To these, who were the first honorary 
 members of the institution, many names of great cele- 
 brity have succeeded. "f 
 
 " Another measure which originated in the same 
 source should be mentioned. From the first establish • 
 ment of the Royal Academy, it has been annuahv 
 the custom of the members to dine together in the 
 exhibition-room after the pictures had been arranged. 
 This meeting was for several years held on St. George's 
 day, and the day following the exhibition commenced. 
 On these occasions it was usual to invite several persons 
 distinguished for rank or talent ; and as festive enter- 
 tain ments given under circumstances so novel could not 
 fail to be spoken of with interest and satisfaction by the 
 invited guests, a pressure of applications to this annual 
 treat has been the consequence, which to the present 
 moment has never relaxed." 
 
 " To Sir Joshua Reynolds these entertainments 
 
 * Goldsmith, in a letter to his brother, quaintly observes, on the 
 subject of this appointment : — "The king; has been pleased to make 
 me Professor of Ancient History in a Royal Academy of Paint- 
 ing which he has just established ; but there is no salary annexed, 
 and I took it rather as a compliment to the institution than any 
 benefit to myself. Honours to one in my situation are something 
 tike ruffles to a man that wants a shirt."' 
 
 t In compliment to their President, the Academy afterwards 
 appointed Mr. Bosweli, for whom Sir Joshua had a great regard, 
 their Secretary for foreign correspondence. 
 
 N 3 
 
182 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 were highly agreeable ; and, anxious that the company 
 assembled at such times should be as select as possible, 
 he earnestly recommended that the council should give 
 up all private wishes in their invitation. To secure a 
 permanent effect, therefore, to the President's advice, 
 a law was made to limit their invitations to persons 
 high in rank or official situation ; to those distinguished 
 for superior talent, and to patrons of the arts. By 
 attending to this rule, the opening dinners of the ex- 
 hibition of the Royal Academy became celebrated. 
 The Prince of Wales has repeatedly honoured them 
 with his presence ; and generally some of the princes 
 of the royal family appear at them. The ministers of 
 state and other high political characters attend, and 
 many of the heads of the church always form part of 
 the company. At the dinner given in 1784 Dr. Johnson 
 left his seat, by desire of the Prince of Wales, and went 
 to the head of the table, to have the honour of being 
 introduced to his royal highness. This was his last visit 
 to the Academy. He died on the 13th of December in 
 that year." 
 
 " These dinners at the Royal Academy," continues 
 Mr. Farington, " have been sometimes peculiarly in- 
 teresting. In 1786 the Prince of Wales had on his 
 right hand the Duke of Orleans, accompained by the 
 Dukes de Lauzun and Fitzjames, and the Count de 
 Grammont. The Duke of Orleans sat under the fine 
 whole-length portrait of his royal highness, painted by 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, and afforded the company present 
 an opportunity to compare the admirable representation 
 with the original. This ill-fated prince had much per- 
 sonal dignity. Sir Joshua, remarking how few persons 
 appear with grace and ease when the arms are wholly 
 unemployed, said, he never saw any man stand in such 
 a position so well as the Duke of Orleans. He had 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 183 
 
 not long then to remain in this world. Influenced by hi3 
 passions, his political career ended in his destruction. 
 
 " In mentioning these entertainments, it is gratifying 
 to record a tribute of respect paid to a most worthy 
 man, who passed a long life endeavouring to benefit his 
 country, — the late Alderman Boydell. 
 
 "At an exhibition dinner at the Royal Academy, in 
 1789, which the Prince of Wales honoured with his 
 presence, Mr. Burke, seeing Alderman Boydell at one 
 of the tables, while toasts were circulating, wrote the 
 following note to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who sat as 
 president : — * This end of the table, in which, as there 
 are many admirers of art, there are many friends of 
 yours, wish to drink an English tradesman who pa- 
 tronises the art better than the grand monarque of 
 France, — * Alderman Boydell, the commercial Maecenas.' 
 This note was shown to the Prince of Wales by 
 Sir Joshua, and highly approved by his royal high- 
 ness, and the toast was drank with unanimous ap- 
 probation. The alderman was then in the sixty- sixth 
 year of his age." 
 
 " This excellent citizen," continues Mr. Farington, 
 "had, by prudent conduct and unceasing application, 
 accumulated property which enabled him to form and 
 to execute plans for the advancement of art and the 
 encouragement of artists before unknown in this and 
 scarcely in any country. At the time he commenced 
 publishing prints, the art of engraving was in a very 
 low state in England. Little was sought for but French 
 prints ; and large remittances went annually to purchase 
 them. Mr. Boydell, moved less by hope of gain than 
 by patriotic feeling, resolved, if possible, to turn the 
 tide in favour of his native country. He knew this 
 could only be done by improving the practice of our 
 professors in that department. For this purpose he 
 n 4 
 
184 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 used all the money he acquired in employing our most 
 ingenious engravers to execute prints from pictures 
 painted by eminent masters, by which means he called 
 forth all their powers : and in a few years Mr. Boydell's 
 success was complete. English prints became popular, 
 not only in England, but throughout the Continent. 
 The balance of trade in this article turned in our 
 favour; and while the works of Woollet, Sharp, and 
 others were seen as the favourite ornaments of houses 
 in Britain, they were sought for in France with almost 
 equal avidity. Encouraged by his success, Mr. Boydell 
 undertook to have engravings made from the whole of 
 the celebrated collection of pictures at Houghton Hall 
 in Norfolk ; which was formed by Sir Robert Walpole, 
 Earl of Orford, while he was prime minister. When 
 this was completed, he proposed to the public Iris grand 
 plan to form a gallery of pictures, to be painted by 
 British artists, from subjects taken from the plays of 
 Shakspeare: an undertaking which afterwards afforded 
 great employment for painters, who thus had an op- 
 portunity to show their powers in the higher depart- 
 ments of the art, and full occupation for every ingenious 
 engraver. It was while this great work was carrying 
 on, that Mr. Burke, a man reverenced by his country, 
 availed himself of the opportunity which has been de- 
 scribed to express his opinion of the merits of our 
 worthy citizen." 
 
 " For Boydell's gallery of Shakspeare, Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds's painted two pictures, — the death of Cardinal 
 Beaufort, from the play of Henry VI., for which five 
 hundred guineas were paid, and the scene of Macbeth 
 with the witches, for which picture he was paid one 
 thousand guineas ; a third, the picture of Puck, though 
 not painted expressly for the gallery, was purchased 
 by the alderman and applied to the work." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 185 
 
 " Having thus introduced the name of Mr. Burke, 
 it may here he said, that of all the distinguished men 
 with whom Sir Joshua was acquainted, that great man 
 stood highest in his estimation of their mental powers. 
 He thought Dr. Johnson possessed a wonderful strength 
 of mind, but that Mr. Burke had a more comprehensive 
 capacity, a more exact judgment, and also that his 
 knowledge was more extensive : with the most pro- 
 found respect for the talents of both, he therefore 
 decided that Mr. Burke was the superior character. 
 Sir Joshua and Mr. Burke were for a great length of 
 time warmly attached to each other. The death of 
 the former preceded that of the latter only a few years, 
 and the sorrow expressed by the survivor on that oc- 
 casion showed the heartfelt affection he had for his 
 departed friend." 
 
 " In his capacity of President, Sir Joshua, as before 
 stated, read the first of his admirable discourses on the 
 fine arts, on the opening of the Royal Academy, Ja- 
 nuary 2d, 1769 ; and every second year, from that 
 time, when the premiums of gold medals were given 
 to the students of the Academy, he delivered a similar 
 address. The last, which was the fifteenth, he read on 
 the 10th of December, 1790, to a crowded assembly, in 
 which many distinguished characters appeared among 
 the auditors."* 
 
 * On the evening of the delivery of this discourse a remarkable 
 circumstance occurred, which at the moment, says Northcote, not 
 a little alarmed the company assembled to hear it. At the time 
 when Sir Joshua was employed in delivering it, and just at the 
 moment when a respectful and solemn silence prevailed, on a 
 sudden a loud crash was heard, and a sensation felt as if the floor 
 of the great room, which is at the top of the house, was giving 
 way and falling. The company immediately took the alarm, and 
 rushed towards the door or to the sides of the room, tumbling one 
 over the other, in the utmost confusion and consternation, expect- 
 ing every moment that the floor would fall away and precipitate 
 
186 
 
 MEMOTR OP 
 
 It was no part of Sir Joshua's prescribed duty as 
 President to deliver an address on the presentation of 
 the medals ; but, " if prizes were to be given," he has 
 himself remarked, in the last discourse which he de- 
 livered, "it appeared not only proper, but almost in- 
 dispensably necessary, that something should be said 
 by the President on the delivery of those prizes ; and 
 the President, for his own credit, would wish to say 
 something more than mere words of compliment ; 
 which, by being frequently repeated, would soon be- 
 come fiat and uninteresting, and, by being uttered to 
 many, would at last become a distinction to none. I 
 thought, therefore," he adds, " if I were to preface this 
 compliment with some instructive observations on the 
 art, when we crowned merit in the artists whom we 
 rewarded, I might do something to animate and guide 
 them in their future attempts." 
 
 How far Sir Joshua has succeeded in accomplishing 
 his purpose the world has already decided; and stu- 
 dents in art have reason to be grateful for the feeling 
 by which the author of the Discourses was influenced 
 in composing them, and to rejoice that the talents of 
 their great projector were so admirably adapted to the 
 
 them down to the lower part of the building. Sir Joshua was 
 silent, but did not move from his seat ; when, after some little 
 time, the company perceiving that the danger had ceased, most of 
 them resumed their places, and Sir Joshua calmly continued his 
 discourse as coolly as if nothing extraordinary had occurred. On 
 an examination of the floor afterwards, it was found that one of the 
 beams for its support had actually given way from the great weight 
 of the assembly of persons who pressed upon it, and, probably, 
 says Northcote, from a flaw also in the wood. I remember, he 
 adds, the remark Sir Joshua made on this accident was, that if 
 the floor had really fallen, most of the persons assembled must 
 have been crushed to death, and if so, the arts in this country 
 would have been thrown two hundred years back. Providen- 
 tially, no ill effect was produced from the circumstance, 1 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 187 
 
 task which he assigned himself. They cannot be too 
 much commended, or too frequently in the hands of the 
 painter. 
 
 While the plan was in agitation for the establish- 
 ment of a Royal Academy, Sir Joshua went to Paris, 
 in company with Mr. William Burke, who in a letter 
 dated the 10th of October, from that metropolis, says : — 
 " Mr. Reynolds and I make this scamper together, and 
 are both extremely satisfied with our tour ; we return 
 in a few days." 
 
 Their return took place within toe expected time, 
 and the arrangements were then in so great a state of 
 forwardness, that on the 28th of November a petition 
 was presented to his Majesty, of which the proposed 
 objects were, the establishment of a well-regulated 
 school of design, for the use of students in art, and an 
 annual exhibition of the works of the members of the 
 Academy, to which it was proposed to admit those of 
 any other artists - whose performances might appear to 
 deserve admission to it, at the discretion of the council 
 deputed to make the selection. Annual and biennial 
 prizes were also determined on, as stimulants to tbe 
 exertions of the students. " These," observes North- 
 cote, " were of course to be awarded to the best pro- 
 ductions ; but it was whimsically quoted at the time, 
 from the laws of the ancient city of Thebes, that for- 
 merly the painter who exhibited the worst picture 
 was also subject to a fine." Professorships were at 
 the same time instituted in painting, sculpture, archi- 
 tecture, anatomy, and perspective, and the professors 
 were bound to deliver periodical lectures on those 
 parts of the art which they were severally appointed 
 to teach.* 
 
 * A gold medal was presented once in every two years by the 
 Royal Academy as a prize for the best historical picture, to be 
 
188 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The petition to the King was signed by Messrs. Cotes, 
 Moser, West, and Chambers, afterwards Sir William 
 Chambers, who had the honour of receiving his Ma- 
 jesty's ready assent to it ; and, authorised by this 
 encouragement, Mr. Chambers undertook the task of 
 digesting the plan or form of the projected institution, 
 together with the laws necessary for its government, 
 all of which were arranged under the immediate in- 
 spection of his Majesty, and when completed received 
 his signature. 
 
 In forming the laws of the Royal Academy, Mr. 
 Chambers was careful to avoid the defects which had 
 characterized those of the Incorporated Society of 
 Artists, and to prevent, so far as it was practicable, 
 the possibility of their being misapplied or misin- 
 terpreted. In fact, a better or a more efficient code 
 of laws could scarcely have been framed for tbe re- 
 gulation of any body of individuals ; and they have 
 proved to be, on many occasions, fully equal to restrain 
 
 painted by a student of the Academy. The annual prizes were 
 for drawings. 
 
 A young painter, who had made several different designs for the 
 composition of the subject he was about to execute, with a view of 
 becoming a candidate for the gold medal, brought his sketches to 
 Sir Joshua, to have his opinion as to which was the best in point of 
 sentiment, and the most descriptive of the story represented. 
 
 Sir Joshua's answer was to this effect:— "You may choose 
 whichever you please ; it will turn out precisely the same ; you 
 are to recollect that your picture is to be judged of by painters 
 only. It will be the manual execution of the work, and that alo>ne, 
 which will engross the attention of artists, and the degree of merit 
 displayed in that part of the art is what will determine them in 
 their election of the candidate for the prize. 
 
 " It is no matter how long or how short the time may have b-een 
 in which you have done your work, or with how much ease or 
 how much difficulty it may have been accomplished ; the result 
 alone is to be considered." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 189 
 
 irregularity and to direct misapprehension or uncer- 
 tainty.* 
 
 We have already observed, that Mr. Reynolds had 
 long withdrawn himself from any participation in the 
 management of the Incorporated Society of Artists, 
 of which he was nominated a director ; but, as he had 
 no access to the King, and was wholly absorbed in the 
 study of his profession, he was not at first aware how 
 far his Majesty intended to extend his protection to 
 another institution, and appears to have decided on 
 refusing to belong to any which was not strengthened 
 by royal patronage and encouragement. At the same 
 time the projectors of the new academy proceeded so 
 cautiously and so secretly with their measures, that the 
 President of the Incorporated Society had no idea of 
 what had been already effected ; and though it was ru- 
 moured that a Royal Academy was likely to be shortly 
 established, he had ventured to state to the mem- 
 
 * At its first establishment the Academy was held, pro tempore, 
 in two large apartments, which had been built for auction rooms, 
 opposite to Market Lane, Pall Mall ; and here the first lecture 
 was delivered, on the '6th of October, 1769, by Dr. William 
 Hunter, who was the first professor of anatomy. In this situ- 
 ation it remained till the year 1771, when his Majesty was 
 graciously pleased to grant the use of the royal apartments at 
 Old Somerset Palace to the Academy, where the establishment 
 was fixed to nearly its full extent ; but the annual exhibitions 
 were still necessarily held at the old rooms in Pall Mall. 
 
 When it was determined to remove some of the offices of 
 government to the spot where the old palace of Somerset House 
 stood, his Majesty was pleased to order that the Royal and 
 Antiquarian Societies should be united under one roof with the 
 lioyal Academy; and when those premises were fit for their 
 reception, they were settled in their present situation, and the 
 Royal Academy opened its first exhibition at that place, on the 
 1st of May, 1780, at which time the keeper and secretary were 
 both provided with suitable apartments, and the library was soon 
 after opened, with considerable improvements. The lectures 
 also commenced at Somerset House on the 23d of October of the 
 same year. 
 
190 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 bers, from the chair, that there were no grounds for 
 the report, and that " the King intended to patronise 
 them, and to visit their exhibitions." This positive 
 assertion misled Mr. Reynolds ; he knew that the 
 president, who had been the King's instructor in per- 
 spective, enjoyed the royal favour, and thought that 
 more reliance might be placed on his statement than 
 on the rumour to which it alluded. 
 
 In the mean time, the four chief agents in the estab- 
 lishment of the new academy had made out a list of 
 their officers, and other members included in the pro- 
 jected institution, containing about thirty names, among 
 which that of Reynolds had been inserted. This list 
 was to be delivered to the King for his Majesty's ap- 
 probation and signature. Mr. Reynolds, however, still 
 doubtful of his Majesty's intentions, was unwilling to 
 join with either party, and expressed himself to that 
 effect to Mr. Chambers ; in consequence of which 
 Mr. Penny was sent to persuade him to join the new 
 society, but failed to accomplish this object. Mr. 
 West was then applied to, as the person who was 
 thought to have the greatest influence with Reynolds, 
 and he accordingly called in Leicester Square on the 
 same evening on which the whole party had a meeting 
 at the house of Mr. Wilton, expecting the result of 
 West's negociation, the King having appointed the 
 following morning to receive the plan of the new 
 academy, together with the nomination of its officers. 
 
 Mr. West remained upwards of two hours endeavour- 
 ing to persuade Reynolds, who at length ordered his 
 carriage, and went with Mr. West to meet the as- 
 sembled party, but without any decided intention of 
 becoming a member of the society. Immediately on 
 his entering the room the whole party rose, and hailed 
 him as president; he seemed to be much affected at 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 191 
 
 the compliment, and returned his warmest thanks for 
 the honour intended him, and for the feeling by which 
 the nomination was dictated ; but still declined having 
 any decided participation in the scheme, which had 
 been so repeatedly proposed to him, till he had con- 
 sulted his friends, Edmund Burke and Dr. Johnson. 
 " This demur," observes Northcote, " greatly disap- 
 pointed the company," as Messrs. West and Cotes 
 were expected to be with the King the next morning, 
 by appointment, and could not present any list of their 
 officers to his Majesty without including the president 
 in the number. The members deputed to wait upon 
 his Majesty contrived by some means, however, to 
 avoid their engagement ; but it was not till a fortnight 
 afterwards that Reynolds gave his consent ; and when 
 Mr. West called upon him in the interval to ascertain 
 his decided intentions on the subject, Reynolds frankly 
 informed him that he knew from the best authority 
 that " their scheme would come to nothing ;" and 
 mentioned as a reason for saying so the assertion of 
 Mr. Kirby, the president of the rival society, which 
 had been formally delivered from the chair, and which 
 he had also, on another occasion, repeated to Reynolds 
 in private. Mr. Kirby, in fact, who appears to have 
 been a very worthy man, was himself wholly under a 
 delusion ; and when the truth became apparent, he is 
 thought by some to have been so much affected by the 
 disappointment, which came upon him very suddenly, as 
 to have actually died from extreme mortification. 
 
 The developement of the mystery, for such it appears 
 to have been, put an end to Mr. Reynolds's objections ; 
 and he complied with the unanimous wishes of the aca- 
 demy, in which the public decidedly participated. 
 
 It cannot for a moment be supposed that the presi- 
 dency of the Roval Academy was not an object of Rey- 
 nolds's ambition ; but we think that the grounds of his 
 
192 
 
 MEMOIU OP 
 
 objection to accept it, till his Majesty had openly declared 
 his intentions, are fully sufficient to account for the delay 
 which took place between the time of his nomination and 
 accession to the office, and to justify his previous refusal 
 to join in the measures of the new society, without pre- 
 suming that he was actuated by any other motives than 
 those of the strictest propriety. 
 
 He has himself very clearly explained the reasons by 
 which he was influenced, in his opening address to the 
 members of the Academy, at the time when all the cir- 
 cumstances of the case must have been fresh in the re- 
 collection of those who were present. The passage we 
 allude to is as follows : — 
 
 " The numberless and ineffectual consultations which 
 I have had with many in this assembly to form plans and 
 concert schemes for an academy, afford sufficient proof 
 of the impossibility of succeeding without the influence of 
 majesty." 
 
 It has, however, been stated, and Northcote had heard 
 it asserted, that Reynolds objected to belong to the 
 society on any other conditions than that of being made 
 president. Such a report, we have no doubt, had been 
 in circulation ; for Northcote was a man of veracity ; but 
 it does not seem probable that it had any foundation in 
 fact ; and it is certainly unnecessary to search for other 
 grounds of objection than those to which Reynolds has 
 himself adverted. 
 
 The establishment of the Royal Academy was a 
 most important measure for the arts and the artists of 
 the country. 
 
 The means of study to which artists had been pre- 
 viously confined were, as we have already observed, 
 very limited ; and former academies, before the exhi- 
 bitions, had been wholly supported by the private 
 subscriptions of the individuals who profited by tlieir 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 193 
 
 advantages. They were very ill supplied with casts 
 from the antique ; and before the liberality and public 
 spirit of the Duke of Richmond induced him to open 
 his gallery to the public, there were none to which 
 artists had any means of access. Hence the taste of 
 the student was necessarily confined ; and with respect 
 to other means of instruction, he was left to grope out 
 the principles of his art by any light that accident 
 might afford him. 
 
 The respectability conferred on the artists of the 
 country by the immediate protection and patronage 
 of the sovereign, was at the same time a powerful 
 stimulus to rising merit; and the promising student 
 might reasonably hope to become himself, eventually, 
 a member of that establishment to which he had been 
 indebted for the knowledge of his art, and to have the 
 gratification of extending to others the advantages 
 which he had derived from the Academy. He might 
 aspire to the honourable distinction of president, and 
 look forward to the possession of an ample field for the 
 display of his intellectual powers in the professorship 
 of the several departments. Thus the arts have been 
 gradually advancing since the establishment of the 
 Royal Academy ; and the brilliant attainments of many 
 of its members have contributed to the improvement 
 of succeeding ones. They will still continue to do so 
 while anything remains to be imparted ; and the English 
 school of art, if public encouragement fail not, may be 
 expected to rival the most distinguished of any former 
 period. 
 
 The limitation in the number of the members of the 
 Academy, though it has often been viewed as a defect, 
 is, we think, a material advantage. Honours should 
 not be too cheaply bought ; for that which is of easy 
 attainment will never be coveted by genius; and the 
 
 vol. i. o 
 
194 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 prize which is shared among many will " at last become 
 a distinction to none." If the time should ever come 
 when more than sixty individuals of distinguished talent 
 and ability shall be found among the artists of England, 
 it will then be soon enough to consider the propriety 
 of extending the number of royal academicians.* 
 
 "We have already observed that the idea which was 
 once entertained of Johnson or Burke having assisted 
 in the composition of Sir Joshua's Discourses, has long 
 ago ceased to have weight ; but it appears to be certain, 
 that in the delivery of them he laboured under several 
 disadvantages. His manner was occasionally embar- 
 rassed ; there was but little variation in the tone of his 
 voice ; and he sometimes spoke so low as to be scarcely 
 intelligible to those who were seated in a distant part 
 of the room. These defects may be accounted for, 
 says Northcote, " from two causes : first, that his deaf- 
 ness might have prevented his being well able to 
 modulate his voice ; but, secondly, I am rather of opi- 
 nion that the real cause was, that, as no man ever felt a 
 greater horror at affectation than he did, so he feared 
 to assume the orator, lest it should have that appear- 
 ance ; he, therefore, naturally fell into the opposite 
 extreme, as the safest retreat from what he thought the 
 greatest evil. 
 
 " It has been related as an anecdote," continues 
 Northcote, " that on one of the evenings when he de- 
 livered his discourse, and when the audience was, as 
 usual, numerous, and composed principally of the 
 
 learned and the great, the Earl of C , who was 
 
 present, came up to him, saying, ' Sir Joshua, you read 
 
 * Sixty is the number of the members of the Academy, as pre- 
 scribed, from its commencement, by the laws of the establishment : 
 viz. forty academicians, and twenty associates, who are elected 
 academicians as vacancies occur. Both numbers must be always 
 complete. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 195 
 
 your discourse in so low a tone, that I could not distin- 
 guish one word you said/ To which the President re- 
 plied, with a smile, ' That was to my advantage.' " 
 
 The pictures which attracted most attention in the 
 first exhibition of the Royal Academy in Pall Mall, 
 were, " The Departure of Regulus from Rome, and 
 Venus lamenting the Death of Adonis, by West ; Hector 
 and Andromache, and Venus directing YEneas and 
 Achates, by Angelica Kauffman, who was at that time 
 but lately arrived in London ; the King and Queen, by 
 Nathaniel Dance ; Lady Molyneux, by Gainsborough ; 
 A Piping Boy, a candlelight piece, by Hone ; an altar- 
 piece of the Annunciation, by Cipriani ; Hebe, the 
 Duke of Gloucester, and A Boy playing at Cricket, by 
 Cotes ; a capital landscape, representing a view of 
 Penton Lynn, by Barrett ; and the smith, described by 
 Shakspeare, with open mouth, listening to a tailor's 
 news, by Penny. To these we must add Sir Joshua's 
 portraits of the Duchess of Manchester and son, as 
 Diana disarming Cupid, the portrait of Lady Blake, as 
 Juno receiving the cestus of Venus, and the portrait of 
 Miss Morris, as Hope nursing Love." 
 
 We may form some idea of the unremitting ap- 
 plication which his ardent thirst after excellence, and 
 his consciousness of the difficulty of attaining it, in- 
 duced Reynolds to bestow upon his profession, from 
 the number of pictures which he exhibited at different 
 periods of his life. The whole number which he sent 
 to different exhibitions was two hundred and fifty-two : 
 viz. to the society's room in the Strand four; to the 
 Incorporated Society twenty, and to the Royal Academy 
 two hundred and twenty-eight. Yet these only formed 
 a select portion of the numerous pictures which he 
 executed. 
 
 From his arrival in England from Italy, says Farin^-- 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ton, in the year 1753, till his death, in 1792, a period of 
 thirty-nine years, excepting the visits which he paid to 
 the Continent, with a view to his improvement in his 
 art, and twice visiting his native country, he never was 
 absent from his painting-room for more than a few 
 days at a time; but he occasionally, though seldom, 
 made short visits to his friends who resided within a 
 moderate distance of the metropolis.* Yet this excess 
 of application did not prevent him from maintaining 
 an extensive intercourse with society ; and he may be 
 said to have numbered among his friends and acquaint- 
 ance almost all the celebrated characters of his day. 
 His house and table, Northcote tells us, were always 
 open to his friends, with invitation or without, and as 
 freely made use of. To Goldsmith, he adds, in parti- 
 cular, Sir Joshua was always attentive ; a man of whom 
 it has been not unaptly said, that his carelessness of 
 conduct and frivolity of manners ohscured the goodness 
 of his heart. Mr. Cumberland, in his Memoirs, has a 
 passage peculiarly illustrative of this, where he says, 
 that " Sir Joshua Reynolds was very good to him, and 
 would have drilled him into better trim and order for 
 society if he would have been amenable ; for Reynolds 
 was a perfect gentleman, had good sense, great pro- 
 priety, with all the social attributes and graces of 
 hospitality, equal to any man. He well knew how to 
 appreciate men of talents, and how near akin the muse 
 of poetry was to that of art, of which he was so eminent 
 a master. From Goldsmith he caught the subject of 
 his famous Ugolino ; what aids he got from others, 
 if he got any, were worthily bestowed and happily 
 applied." 
 
 * Sir Joshua built himself a house on Richmond Hill ; but it 
 is remarkable that, though he frequently visited it, he never, it is 
 said, passed a night there. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 IS7 
 
 " Mr. Cumberland, however," says Northeote, " is, 
 perhaps, rather inaccurate in his assertion respecting the 
 painting of Ugolino, which was finished in the year 1773, 
 and begun not long before as an historical subject." 
 
 " The fact is that this painting, may be said to have 
 been produced, as an historical picture, by accident ; 
 for the head of the count had been painted previous 
 to the year 1773, and finished on what we painters 
 call a ' half-length canvass,' and was in point of ex- 
 pression exactly as it now stands, but without any in- 
 tention on the part of Sir Joshua of making it the 
 subject of an historical composition, or having the 
 story of Count Ugolino in his thoughts. Being ex- 
 posed in the picture gallery along with his other 
 works, it was seen either by Mr. Edmund Burke or 
 Dr. Goldsmith, I am not certain which, who imme- 
 diately exclaimed,, that it struck him as being the pre- 
 cise person, countenance, and expression of the Count 
 Ugolino, as described by Dante in his Inferno. 
 
 " Sir Joshua immediately had his canvass enlarged, 
 in order that he might be enabled to add the other 
 figures and to complete his painting of the impressive 
 description of the Italian poet. This picture, when 
 finished, was bought by the late Duke of Dorset for 
 400 guineas, and it has since been noticed by Dr. 
 Joseph Warton, who, in his Essay on the Genius and 
 Writings of Pope, introduces the story in exemplification 
 of some pathetic passages in that writer ; and then 
 adds, ' Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose mind is stored 
 with great and exalted ideas, has lately shown by a 
 picture on this subject how qualified he is to preside 
 at a Royal Academy, and that he has talents that 
 ought not to be confined to portrait painting.'" 
 
 Of this work, as a picture, there can scarcely be 
 two opinions ; the world has long decided on its merits 
 o 3 
 
198 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 but we think that if Sir Joshua had himself imagined 
 the character of Dante's Ugolino, instead of allowing 
 the study from nature, which he had previously made, 
 to represent it, he would have given it a more elevated 
 and poetical expression.* 
 
 When Goldsmith published his Deserted Village, he 
 inscribed it to Sir Joshua in a few short lines which 
 do honour to the feeling by which his works are in- 
 variable characterized; and which, unlike that of 
 Sterne, came direct from the heart and not from the 
 pen of the writer alone. They are well known, but 
 the concluding ones can scarcely be too often repeated. 
 " The only dedication I ever made," says the poet of 
 nature, "was to my brother, because I loved him better 
 than most other men. He is since dead. Permit me 
 to inscribe this poem to you." 
 
 In the course of the year 1772, Reynolds painted a 
 remarkably fine picture of " Resignation," and dedi- 
 cated the print taken from it to Goldsmith, with some 
 lines under it quoted from his poem above alluded to. 
 " This seems to have been done by Sir Joshua," ob- 
 serves Northcote, as a return of the compliment to 
 Goldsmith, who had dedicated the Deserted Village 
 to him. When Goldsmith was prematurely taken 
 from a world which he was better formed to delight 
 
 * Sir Joshua's picture of The Children in the Wood was 
 equally the production of accident ; " at least," says Northcote, 
 " as an historical composition : for when the beggar infant, who 
 was sitting to him for some other picture, fell asieep during the 
 sitting, Reynolds was so pleased with the innocence of the object 
 that he would not disturb ils repose to go on with the picture on 
 which he was engaged, but took up a fresh canvass, and quickly 
 painted the child's head, as it lay, before it moved ; and as the in- 
 fant altered its position, still in sleep, he sketched another view of 
 its head on the same canvass. He afterwards finished a back- 
 ground of a woody scenery, and, by adding the robin -redbreast, 
 converted it into the subject of the Children in the Wood." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 199 
 
 than to live in, Sir Joshua was so much affected at his 
 death, that " he did not touch a pencil for that day ; a 
 circumstance most extraordinary," says his pupil and 
 biographer, " for him who passed no day without a 
 line." He acted as executor, and managed, in the best 
 manner, the confused state of the Doctor's affairs. 
 He also went himself to Westminster Abbey, and fixed 
 upon the place for Goldsmith's monument which it 
 now occupies in Poets' Corner. Nollekens was em- 
 ployed to make the monument, and Dr. Johnson com- 
 posed the epitaph. 
 
 The only original portrait of Goldsmith is the fine 
 one by Sir Joshua, in the possession of the Duke of 
 Dorset, at Knowle. "It is sufficiently unlovely," says 
 Mr. Cunningham; "yet it was said by the artist's 
 sister to be the most flattered likeness of all her 
 brother's works." 
 
 Soon after Goldsmith's death, which occurred on 
 the 4th of April, 1774, some persons dining with Sir 
 Joshua were commenting rather freely on a part of his 
 works, which, in their opinion, manifested neither taste 
 nor originality. To this Dr. Johnson listened, in his 
 usual growling manner, for some time ; when at length 
 his patience being exhausted, he rose with great dig- 
 nity, looking them full in the face, and exclaimed, " If 
 nobody were suffered to abuse poor Goldy but those 
 who could write as well, he would have few censors." 
 
 Goldsmith's carelessness of manner and apparent 
 inaptitude for conversation has been often remarked, 
 and severely criticised. Horace Walpole has called 
 him " an inspired idiot," and Garrick describes him as 
 one. 
 
 " for shortness called Noll, 
 
 Who wrote like an angel, and talk'd like poor poll." 
 
 o 4 
 
200 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 But much of what has been alluded to appears to have 
 been assumed. Sir Joshua mentioned to Boswell, that 
 he had heard Goldsmith talk with great warmth of 
 the pleasure of being liked, and observe, how hard it 
 would be if literary celebrity should deprive a man of 
 that satisfaction, which, he said, he perceived it often 
 did, from the awe or the envy which attended it ; and 
 Reynolds was convinced, from this circumstance, says 
 Northcote, " that he was intentionally more absurd, in 
 order to lessen himself in social intercourse, trusting 
 that his character would be sufficiently supported by 
 his works. If it was his intention," he adds, "to ap- 
 pear absurd in company, he was often very successful. 
 This," in Northcote's opinion, " was really the case ft 
 and he also thought that Sir Joshua was so sensible 
 of this " advantage," as he terms it, that he "followed 
 the same idea," though " in a much less degree, as he 
 never had a wish to impress his company with any 
 awe of the great abilities with which he was endowed, 
 especially when in the society of those of high rank." 
 "I have heard Sir Joshua say," continues his pupil, 
 "that he has frequently seen the whole company 
 struck with an awful silence at the entrance of Gold- 
 smith ; but that the doctor has quickly dispelled the 
 charm by his boyish and social manners, and he then 
 has soon become the plaything and favourite of the 
 company."* 
 
 * With respect to the feeling which Northcote alludes to, in Sir 
 J oshua, it has been observed by Reynolds, in his private memo- 
 randa, that — " When a painter becomes fond of talking, he had 
 better put a padlock on his mouth ; because those who can be ad- 
 mired for what they say will have less desire to be admired for 
 what they can do ; and as the former is so much easier performed 
 with applause than the latter, it will more frequently be adopted : 
 it being the nature of mankind to get as much commendation as 
 they can acquire, and by the easiest means." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 201 
 
 About the year 1770, Sir Joshua's portrait was 
 painted by Zoflanii, in a large picture, which contained 
 at the same time the portraits of all the first members of 
 the Royal Academy ; it is at present in the king's col- 
 lection, and has been engraved by Earlom. Soon after- 
 wards Reynolds gave Dr. Johnson a copy of the portrait 
 now at Knowle, in which the Doctor is painted with his 
 hands held up, and in his own short hair. Johnson 
 notices the portrait in the following letter : — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — When I came to Lichfield, I found 
 that my portrait had been much visited and much 
 admired. Every man has a lurking wish to appear 
 considerable in his native place; and I was pleased 
 with the dignity conferred by such a testimony of your 
 regard." 
 
 Dr. Johnson, like Goldsmith, knew nothing of paint- 
 ing, either in theory or practice ; " notwithstanding the 
 many eulogiums on the art, which, after the com- 
 mencement of his friendship with Reynolds, he in- 
 serted, on various occasions, in his writings." He 
 once said, himself, to Sir John Hawkins, that in his 
 whole life he was never capable of discerning the least 
 resemblance of any kind between a picture and the ob- 
 ject it was meant to represent. Portraiture appeared to 
 him the only desirable part of the art, and this he seems 
 merely to have valued for the sake of the persons repre- 
 sented. He alludes to it in the following terms :— 
 
 " Genius is chiefly exerted in historical pictures, 
 and the art of the painter of portraits is often lost 
 in the obscurity of his subject. But it is in painting 
 as in life ; what is greatest is not always best. I 
 should grieve to see Reynolds transfer to heroes and 
 to goddesses, to empty splendour and to airy fiction, 
 
202 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 that art which is now employed in diffusing friendship, 
 in renewing tenderness, in quickening the affections of 
 the absent, and continuing the presence of the dead." 
 
 Again ; " Every man is always present to himself, 
 and has therefore little need of his own resemblance ; 
 nor can desire it but for the sake of those, he loves, and 
 by whom he hopes to be remembered. This use of 
 the art is a natural and reasonable consequence of af- 
 fection; and though, like other human actions, it is 
 often complicated with pride, yet even such pride is more 
 laudable than that by which palaces are covered with 
 pictures, that, however excellent, neither imply the 
 owner's virtue, nor excite it." 
 
 "This is certainly," says Northcote, "the best 
 apology for portrait painting that has ever been given ;" 
 but if other parts of the art had never been more 
 highly appreciated than by Johnson, we might as easily 
 dispense with the works of Michel Angelo, Raffaelle, 
 and Titian, as with those of Pompeo Battoni ; and if 
 they had never been more deserving of commendation, 
 the world would have to apologise for the centuries of 
 bad taste during which it has held them in such high 
 estimation. . 
 
 Johnson, though wholly ignorant of painting, seems, 
 however, to have been much interested in the success 
 of the Royal Academy, whose exhibitions continued 
 rapidly to improve. In a note written in May, 1783, he 
 says ; " The exhibition prospers so much that Sir Joshua 
 says it will maintain an Academy : he estimates the 
 probable amount at 3000?." 
 
 In fact, the receipts of the Academy soon enabled 
 its members to dispense with the annual contributions, 
 which, to the amount of 5000?., his Majesty so 
 liberally supplied from the privy purse, at the first 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 203 
 
 establishment of the institution ; and they have since 
 been wholly dependent on their own resources. 
 
 In the year 1775, Sir Joshua painted that portrait of 
 Johnson in which he is represented as reading, and 
 near-sighted. The expression of this peculiarity so 
 much displeased the Doctor, that he remarked, "It is 
 not friendly to hand down to posterity the imperfections 
 of any man." " But Reynolds, on the contrary," says 
 Northcote, " esteemed it as a circumstance in nature to 
 be remarked as characterising the person represented, 
 and therefore as giving additional value to the por- 
 trait." 
 
 In allusion to this picture, Mrs. Thrale says, " I 
 observed that he would not be known by posterity for 
 his defects only, let Sir Joshua do his worst :" and 
 when she adverted to Reynolds's own portrait, in which 
 he introduced the ear-trumpet, and which he had painted 
 for Mrs. Thrale, the Doctor is said to have answered, 
 " He may paint himself as deaf as he chooses ; but I 
 will not be blinking Sam."* 
 
 With another of his portraits Johnson seems to have 
 been better pleased ; he writes again to Mrs. Thrale ; " I 
 have twice sat to Sir Joshua, and he seems to like his 
 own performance. He has projected another, in which 
 I am to be busy; but we can think of it at leisure." 
 In a subsequent letter, he adds, " Sir Joshua has finished 
 my picture, and it seems to please every body, but I 
 shall wait to see how it pleases you." 
 
 * In the latter part of the same year Sir Joshua painted the 
 portrait of himself, in the dress of his university honours, which 
 was placed in the gallery of illustrious painters at Florence, where 
 it still remains. It was sent in consequence of his having been 
 elected a member of the Imperial Academy in that city ; and in 
 compliance with the regulations of the establishment, by which 
 the newly elected member is required to present his portrait, 
 painted by his own hand ; a circumstance which has produced 
 the most curious and valuable collection of portraits of eminent 
 painters in the world. 
 
204 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The scrupulous veracity of Johnson was a striking 
 feature in his character ; and Reynolds observed, in 
 conversing with a friend upon the strictness with 
 which the Doctor inculcated to all his acquaintance 
 the importance of perpetual vigilance against the 
 slightest degree of falsehood, that " all who were of 
 Johnson's school were distinguished for a love of truth 
 and accuracy which they might not have possessed, in 
 the same degree, if they had not been acquainted with 
 him." 
 
 Johnson once sat for his portrait to Miss Reynolds, 
 who painted in miniature ; but, much as he admired 
 the fair artist, he did not venture to compliment her 
 upon the work ; and when it was finished, observed to 
 her that it was " Johnson's grimly ghost." The picture 
 was afterwards engraved, and the Doctor recommended, 
 as a motto, the appropriate stanza from the old ballad 
 ' ■ William and Margaret." 
 
 A lady of his acquaintance once asked him how it 
 happened that he was never invited to dine at the 
 tables of the great ; to which he replied, " Because, 
 madam, great lords and ladies do not like to have their 
 mouths stopped." 
 
 "When Miss Reynolds sent him a work which she had 
 had privately printed, but which never appears to have 
 been published, entitled, an Essay on Taste, he returned 
 her the following letter : — 
 
 " Dearest Madam, — There is in these few pages 
 or remarks such depth of penetration, such nicety of 
 observation, as Locke or Pascal might be proud of. 
 This, I desire you to believe, is my real opinion. How- 
 ever, it cannot be published in its present state. Many 
 of your notions seem not to be very clear, even in your 
 own mind ; many are not sufficiently developed and ex- 
 panded for the common reader : it wants every where 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 205 
 
 to be smoother and plainer. You may by revisal and 
 correction make it a very elegant and curious work. 
 " I am, my dearest dear, 
 " Your affectionate and obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel Johnson." 
 
 Sir Joshua was often applied to by Johnson for con- 
 tributions for charitable purposes ; and on one of these 
 occasions he writes : — 
 
 " It was not before yesterday that I received your 
 splendid benefaction. To a hand so liberal in dis- 
 tributing, I hope no one will envy the power of ac- 
 quiring." 
 
 To Johnson himself he had been a valuable friend ; 
 and a few days before this great man died, one of the 
 three requests which he made to Reynolds was to 
 forgive him thirty pounds which he had borrowed of 
 him. The other two were highly characteristic of the 
 Doctor's own exemplary principles : — "To read the 
 Scriptures carefully ; and to abstain from using his 
 pencil on the Sabbath day." To these requests Sir 
 Joshua gave a willing assent, and is said to have faith- 
 fully observed them. 
 
 There were, however, very few to whom Johnson 
 would be indebted for any thing, and nothing proves 
 the high opinion which he entertained of Sir Joshua 
 more than his consenting to be under pecuniary obli- 
 gations to him. Reynolds has observed, that if any 
 man ventured to draw him into an obligation without 
 his own consent, the Doctor was sure to take the 
 earliest opportunity of affronting him, by way of clearing 
 off the account. 
 
 Johnson's death, which occurred on the 13th of De- 
 cember, 1784, was severely felt by Sir Joshua; the 
 two friends had been acquainted for more than thirty 
 
206 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 years, and had lived on terms of the greatest cor- 
 diality, which had never been disturbed by differ- 
 ences or broken by any interruptions : they fully ap- 
 preciated each other's characters, and mutually rejoiced 
 in the friendship which united them ; their regard was 
 strengthened by respect, and their intercourse cemented 
 by unlimited confidence. 
 
 Reynolds, however, gained more from his friend 
 than Johnson had the tact to imbibe from him : he 
 acquired from the Doctor the habit of thinking cor- 
 rectly, and of expressing himself with clearness and 
 decision ; of analysing the results of observation, and 
 submitting what was specious or uncertain to the tests 
 of simplicity and truth. His perception was at all 
 times acute, and his discriminative powers were natu- 
 rally strong ; but Johnson's was a master-mind, and 
 no one could come within the range of its influence, 
 who had any inclination to learn, or any capacity for 
 improvement, without inhaling a portion of the know- 
 ledge which floated in the atmosphere around it. 
 
 In many respects, the Doctor might have greatly 
 improved himself by Sir Joshua's precepts and ex- 
 ample ; but he seemed to consider himself as inde- 
 pendent of the world, and, conscious of his gigantic 
 attainments, he seldom looked beyond his own re- 
 sources for instruction. 
 
 '* He had lived neglected," observes Mr. Cunning- 
 ham, " nay, spurned, by the opulent and the titled — 
 till his universal fame forced him upon them ; and 
 when, after life was half spent in toil and sorrow, he 
 came forth at length from his obscurity, he spread 
 consternation among the polished circles by his un- 
 couth shape and gestures, more by his ready and 
 vigorous wit, and an incomparable sharpness of sar- 
 casm, made doubly keen and piercing by learning. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 207 
 
 His circumstances rendered it unnecessary to soothe 
 the proud by assentation, or the beautiful by fine 
 speeches. He appeared among men, not to win his 
 way leisurely to the first place by smiles and bows ; 
 but to claim it, take it, and keep it, as the distinction 
 to which he was born, and of which he had been too 
 long defrauded." 
 
 Johnson appointed Sir Joshua Reynolds one of his 
 executors, along with Sir William Scott, and Sir John 
 Hawkins: "a trust," says Northcote, "which he 
 faithfully fulfilled : he also left him his great French 
 Dictionary by Moreri, and his own copy of his folic 
 English Dictionary, of the last revision, as a friendly 
 testimony of remembrance ; also, a book from his 
 library to Mrs. Frances Reynolds, sister to Sir Joshua." 
 
 Our limits will not allow us to mention in chrono- 
 logical order all the numerous incidents of Sir Joshua's 
 life, as detailed by his several biographers. Till the 
 period at which he attained the meridian of his pro- 
 fessional reputation, we have thought it essential to do 
 so ; for the progress of genius from obscurity to fame, 
 cannot fail to be interesting and instructive : we must, 
 m future, confine ourselves to the insertion of matter 
 which we should scarcely be justified in omitting, and 
 to that more especially, which has reference to art, 
 as connected with Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 Among the numerous memoranda on the subject of 
 his art, which Sir Joshua had noted, at different periods, 
 with a view to their subsequent arrangement, we find 
 the following candid account of his deficiencies, and of 
 the means which he employed to advance himself in 
 his profession. 
 
 "Not having the advantage of an early academical 
 education, I never had that facility of drawing the 
 naked figure which an artist ought to have. It ap- 
 
20S 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 peared to me too late, when I went to Italy, and 
 began to feel my own deficiencies, to endeavour to 
 acquire that readiness of invention which I observed 
 others to possess. I consoled myself, however, by 
 remarking that these ready inventors are extremely 
 apt to acquiesce in imperfections ; and that, if I had 
 not their facility, I should, for this very reason, be 
 more likely to avoid the defect which too often ac- 
 companies it, — a trite and common-place mode of in- 
 vention. 
 
 " How difficult it is for the artist who possesses this 
 facility to guard against carelessness and common- 
 place invention is well known; and in a kindred art 
 Metastasio is an eminent instance ; who always com- 
 plained of the great difficulty he found in attaining 
 correctness, in consequence of his having been, in his 
 youth, an improvisatore. Having this defect constantly 
 in my mind, I never was contented with common-place 
 attitudes or inventions of any kind. I considered my- 
 self as playing a great game ; and, instead of beginning 
 to save money, I laid it out faster than I got it, in 
 purchasing the best examples of art that could be 
 procured; for I even borrowed money for this pur- 
 pose. The possession of pictures by Titian, Vandyck, 
 Rembrandt, &c. I considered as the best kind of 
 wealth.* By carefully studying the works of great 
 
 * On one occasion he offered to cover twice with guineas, as 
 the price of the purchase, the picture of "The Witch coming 
 from Hell with a Lapful of Charms," by Teniers ; but this was 
 refused. " Yet it is pleasing to record," says Northcote, " that 
 he afterwards possessed this very picture ; and as he modestly de- 
 clared, by only painting a portrait, a fancy subject, and giving 
 another of his own works already executed. The sum which he 
 offered would have amounted to near one thousand guineas. ' 
 
 So anxious was Sir Joshua for the diffusion of a good taste in 
 the art, and that future students might find a practical commentary 
 on those precepts which he had then " ceased to deliver, that he, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 209 
 
 masters, this advantage is obtained ; we find that cer- 
 tain niceties of expression are capable of being ex- 
 ecuted, which otherwise we might suppose beyond the 
 reach of art. This gives us a confidence in ourselves ; 
 and we are thus invited to endeavour at not only the 
 same happiness of execution, but also at other con- 
 genial excellences. Study, indeed, consists in learn- 
 ing to see nature, and may be called the art of using 
 other men's minds. By this kind of contemplation 
 and exercise, we are taught to think in their way, 
 and sometimes to attain their excellence. Thus, for 
 instance, if I had never seen any of the works of 
 Correggio, I should never, perhaps, have remarked in 
 nature the expression which I find in one of his pieces ; 
 or, if I had remarked it, I might have thought it too diffi- 
 cult, or, perhaps, impossible to be executed.* 
 
 " My success, and continual improvement in my art, 
 if I may be allowed that expression, may be ascribed 
 in a good measure to a principle which I will boldly 
 recommend to imitation ; I mean a principle of 
 honesty ; which, in this, as in all other instances, is, 
 according to the vulgar proverb, certainly the best 
 policy. — I always endeavoured to do my best. Great 
 or vulgar, good subjects or bad, all had nature ; by the 
 exact representation of which, or even by the endea- 
 
 in the most liberal manner, offered to the Academy his collection 
 of pictures, which sold after his death for upwards of ten 
 thousand pounds, " at a very low price, on the condition that they 
 would purchase the Lyceum, in the Strand, for the purpose of 
 constructing an exhibition room. This generous offer, however, 
 for several reasons, was declined." 
 
 * We may add, that if he had never seen the works of Michel 
 Angelo and Raffaelle, he would never have attained the intellectual 
 superiority in art by which his works are so highly distinguished ; 
 and it is probable that he would never have wholly emancipated 
 himself from the monotonous insipidity and littleness of manner 
 which characterised the best works ofKneller and Hudson. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 P 
 
210 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 vour to give such a representation, the painter cannot 
 but improve in his art. 
 
 "My principal labour was employed on the whole 
 together; and I was never weary of changing, and 
 trying different modes and different effects. I had al- 
 ways some scheme in my mind, and a perpetual desire to 
 advance. By constantly endeavouring to do my best, 
 I acquired a power of doing that with spontaneous 
 facility, which was, at first, the whole effort of my mind : 
 and my reward was threefold ; the satisfaction resulting 
 from acting on this just principle, improvement in my 
 art, and the pleasure derived from a constant pursuit 
 after excellence. 
 
 " I was always willing to believe that my uncertainty 
 of proceeding in my works — that is, my never being 
 sure of mv hand, and my frequent alterations — arose 
 from a refined taste, which could not acquiesce in any 
 thing short of a high degree of excellence. I had not 
 an opportunity of being early initiated in the prin- 
 ciples of colouring : no man, indeed, could teach me. 
 If I have never been settled with respect to colouring, 
 let it at the same time be remembered that my un- 
 steadiness in this respect proceeded from an inordinate 
 desire to possess every kind of excellence that I saw 
 in the works of others ; without considering that there 
 is in colouring, as in style, excellences which are in- 
 compatible with each other : however, this pursuit, or, 
 indeed, any similar pursuit, prevents the artist from 
 being tired of his art. We all know how often those 
 masters who sought after colouring, changed their 
 manners ; while others, merely from not seeing various 
 modes, acquiesced all their lives in that with which 
 thev set out. On the contrary, I tried every effect 
 of colour; and leaving out every colour in its turn, 
 showed every colour that I could do without it. As I 
 alternately left out every colour, I tried every new 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 211 
 
 colour ; and often, it is well known, failed. The former 
 practice, I am aware, may be compared, by those whose 
 chief object is ridicule, to that of the poet mentioned 
 in the ' Spectator,' who, in a poem of twenty-four books, 
 contrived in each book to leave out a letter. But I 
 was influenced by no such idle or foolish affectation. 
 My fickleness in the mode of colouring arose from 
 an eager desire to attain the highest excellence. This 
 is the only merit I assume to myself from my conduct 
 in that respect." 
 
 " The evident desire which Sir Joshua had," ob- 
 serves Northcote, " to render his pictures perfect to the 
 utmost of his ability, and in each succeeding instance 
 to surpass the former, occasioned his frequently making 
 them inferior to what they had been in the course of 
 the process ; and when it was observed to him, ' that 
 probably he had never sent out to the world any one 
 of his paintings in as perfect a state as it had been, 
 he answered, ' that he believed the remark was very 
 just; but that, notwithstanding, he certainly gained 
 ground by it on the whole, and improved himself 
 by the experiment ;' adding, ' if you are not bold 
 enough to run the risk of losing, you can never hope 
 to gain.' 
 
 " With the same wish of advancing himself in the 
 art, I have heard him say," continues his pupil, " that 
 whenever a new sitter came to him for a portrait, he 
 always began it with a full determination to make 
 it the best picture he had ever painted ; neither would 
 he allow it to be an excuse for his failure, to say, 
 ' the subject was a bad one for a picture ;' there was 
 always nature, he would observe, which, if well treated, 
 was fully sufficient for the purpose." * 
 
 * Sir Joshua's usual dead-colouring, we have already observed; 
 ■was what is commonly termed black and white ; a little red only 
 
 p 2 
 
212 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ' In the ' Life of Barry,' p. 257., will be found an 
 anonymous letter to him, containing criticisms on 
 
 being used, and no yellow, in the first process. Sometimes it was 
 lake, black, and white ; sometimes red lead, black, and white, with 
 vermilion occcasionally ; sometimes asphaltum and white, with 
 vermilion and black ; sometimes umber and white, or Vandyke 
 brown and white, with blue and red ; and sometimes lake, and 
 yellow and white, without red. There were few heads which he 
 did not glaze, either with lake and transparent yellow ; with ver- 
 milion, used thinly, as a stain ; with asphaltum, or lake and as- 
 phaltum ; with yellow ochre, orpiment, or Naples yellow, used 
 transparently ; or with black and red, or blue and red, as his pic- 
 ture might require. In most of his preparations, blue, or blue- 
 black were used, and not black alone. 
 
 The object of all these different modes of beginning was 
 brilliancy and transparency of colour, which he soon discovered 
 could not be acquired by using many colours at a time : such as 
 were deficient in the first preparation, were therefore added in the 
 subsequent ones ; but always, it must be recollected, in such a 
 manner as to allow the preparation beneath to appear more or less 
 through what was passed over it, particularly in the half tones. 
 
 It signifies little whether a head be begun with red or with yel- 
 low, for both colours are found, in some proportions, in flesh ; but 
 they cannot be used together, unless by a very skilful hand, with 
 out destroying, in some degree, the purity of both : the red pre- 
 paration passed over with yellow, or the yellow one passed over 
 with red. would produce, under proper management, the same 
 effect. Transparency is all that is necessary, in a greater or less 
 degree, as required ; and, provided the one colour appear through 
 the other, it is of little importance which is used first. 
 
 Glazing, of course, must always be regulated by the state of the 
 picture to which it is applied; and the transparent colour which 
 may be proper for one, could not. perhaps, be used with propriety 
 in another. 
 
 Sir Joshua's vehicles were mostly varnish, and wax and varnish ; 
 sometime copaiva and wax, and occasionally wax alone, dissolved 
 in turpentine, and thinned with the same as required. Over these 
 he sometimes finished in oil, or copaiva, either alone or mixed with 
 wax : and sometimes with varnish, or wax and varnish, as he be- 
 gan. He would sometimes begin with oil and finish with Venice 
 turpentine and wax, or wax and varnish : painting hard-drying 
 substances over soft ones, and soft over hard, indiscriminately ; 
 nor did he ever dream of the consequences of doing so till the 
 cracking of his pictures made them manifest. 
 
 All these materials he used with the skill of a master, always 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 213 
 
 painting, as well as on poetry, and on his works in the 
 Adelphi. Barry appears not to have suspected who 
 
 making them subservient to the more important objects of his art ; 
 but he studiously concealed them from his pupils , fearing, what 
 would probably have been the case, that they would attach more 
 importance to them than they deserved, and overlook the great 
 end of art, in paying too much attention to the means by which 
 they might fancy it could be effected. 
 
 " I remember," says Northcote, "he was very much displeased 
 with a young painter who once showed him a picture in which 
 experimental mixtures composed of wax and varnishes of differ- 
 ent sorts had been used ; and afterwards, speaking of him to me, 
 he said, ' That boy will never do any good, if they do not take 
 away from him all his gallipots of varnish and foolish mixtures :' 
 nor would he suffer me," his pupil adds, " during the whole time 
 I resided in his house, to made use of any other materials than 
 the common preparations of colour, just as we have them from 
 the hands of the colourman ; and all varnishes, and every kind 
 of experiment, were strictly prohibited. All his own preparations 
 of colour were carefully kept concealed from my sight, and locked 
 up securely in his drawers, never to be seen by any one but him- 
 self. In his own practice, however, which long experience, and 
 careful finishing in early life, had confirmed, he would venture on 
 whatever experiment was recommended to him ; and when he 
 was at any time accused of having spoiled many of his portraits 
 by trying experiments upon them, he would answer, that it was 
 always his wish to have made these experiments on his fancy 
 pictures, and, in that case, had they failed of success, the injury 
 would have fallen on himself, as he should have kept them on his 
 hands ; but that he was prevented from practising thus from be- 
 ing perpetually employed in painting portraits, and therefore 
 obliged to make his trials on those, as eagerness in the pursuit of 
 excellence was with him uncontrollable. 
 
 " It was his opinion," Northcote adds, " that if the vegetable 
 colours, which are infinitely the most beautiful, were inclosed by 
 varnish so as to be kept from the external air, they would not 
 fade: but what he proposed as the remedy," obeerves his pupil, 
 " was, in fact, worse than the disease ; as the colour would still 
 fade, and the varnish itself would crack. 
 
 " It was of advantage," he continues, " to the old school of 
 Italian painters, that they were under the necessity of making most 
 of their colours themselves, or, at least, of having them made 
 under the inspection of such as posssssed chemical knowledge ; 
 which excluded all possibility of those adulterations to which the 
 moderns are exposed. The same also was the case in England 
 p 3 
 
214 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 was the author of it, but the writer of his life says, — 
 It seems to be, from every mark of internal evidence, 
 the production of Burke. * 
 " My own opinion is," observes Northcote, " that 
 it is a combination of the talents of Burke and Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds ; for there are opinions contained in 
 it that none but a painter could give, and which are 
 likewise the very opinions of Sir Joshua ;" and " it 
 
 till the time of Sir Godfrey Kneller, who, when he came to this 
 country, brought over a servant with him whose sole employment 
 was to prepare all his colours and materials for painting. He 
 afterwards set him up as a colourman for artists ; and this man's 
 success, he being the first who kept a colour- shop in London, oc- 
 casioned the practice of it as trade. 
 
 "Sir Joshua was so careful about procuring unadulterated 
 colours, and articles of every kind for his professional purposes, 
 that he has often desired me to inform the colourman," adds 
 Northcote, "that he should not regard any priee that might be 
 required, provided the colours were genuine." 
 
 It should be recollected, in commenting upon Sir Joshua's ex- 
 periments, that, at the period when he flourished, the art of colour- 
 ing could only be learnt by practical research. " There is not a 
 man on earth," he used to.say, " who has the least notion of colour- 
 ing ; we all of us have it equally to seek for and find out, as at 
 present it is totally lost to the art." 
 
 We must also allow the truth of a remark which a friend of Sir 
 Joshua's once made to a connoisseur, who exclaimed against his 
 flying colours; that "every picture of Reynolds's was an experi- 
 ment of art made by an ingenious man ; and that the art advanced 
 by such experiments even where they failed. Any painter," he 
 added, " who merely wished to make his colours stand, had only 
 to purchase them at the first colour shop he might come to. 
 
 When Northcote, as he says, " humbly endeavoured to per- 
 suade Sir Joshua to abandon those fleeting colours, lake and car- 
 mine, in painting his flesh, and to adopt vermilion in their stead ;" 
 Reynolds looked on his hand, and observed, " I can see no ver- 
 milion in flesh " — " But did not Sir Godfrey Kneller," said his 
 pupil, always use vermilion in his flesh-colour ?" — " What sig- 
 nifies," sharply retorted Sir Joshua, " what a man used, who could 
 not colour ?— but ycu may use it if you will." We may add, that 
 he adopted it himself in all his latter works, finding by experience 
 the ill effects of lake and carmine. Had the madder lake then 
 been invented, the change would not have been necessary. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 seems natural that Burke," supposing 1 him to have 
 "written it, " should ask the assistance of Sir Joshua 
 in the affair ; and must have been" convinced that 
 he " could afford him much serviceable advice" on the 
 subject. 
 
 As we think it extremely probable that such was the 
 case, we shall insert those parts of it which may be pre- 
 sumed to have been dictated by Sir Joshua ; particularly 
 as they contain many excellent precepts for the guidance 
 of young artists. 
 
 " The painter who wishes to make his pictures what 
 fine pictures must be — nature elevated and improved — 
 must first of all gain a perfect knowledge of nature as 
 it is : before he endeavours, like Lysippus, to make 
 men as they ought to be, he must know how to render 
 them as they are ; he must acquire an accurate know- 
 ledge of all the parts of the body and countenance ; 
 to know anatomy will be of little use, unless physio- 
 logy and physiognomy are joined with it, so that the 
 artist may know what peculiar combinations and pro- 
 portions of features constitute different characters, and 
 what effect the passions and affections of the mind have 
 upon these features. This is a science which all the 
 theorists in the world cannot teach, and which can 
 only be acquired by observation, practice, and atten- 
 tion. It is not by copying antique statues, or by giving 
 a loose to the imagination in what are called poetical 
 compositions, that artists will be enabled to produce 
 works of real merit ; but by laborious and accurate 
 investigation of nature upon the principles observed 
 by the Greeks, — first to make themselves thoroughly 
 acquainted with the common forms of nature, and 
 then, by selecting and combining, to form compositions 
 according to their own elevated conceptions. This is 
 the principle of true poetry as well as of painting and 
 'p 4 
 
216 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sculpture. Homer and Shakspeare had probably never 
 seen characters so strongly marked as those of Achilles 
 and Lady Macbeth ; at least, we may safely say, that 
 few of their readers have ; and yet we all feel that these 
 characters are drawn from nature, and that if we have 
 not seen exactly the same, we have seen models or minia- 
 tures of them. The limbs and features are those of 
 common nature, but elevated and improved by the taste 
 and skill of the artist. 
 
 " This taste may be the gift of nature, the result of 
 perfect organisation, and the skill may be acquired by 
 habit and study ; but the ground-work, the knowledge 
 of limbs and features, must be acquired by practical 
 attention and accurate observation. And here, Sir, 
 that portrait-painting, which you affect so much to 
 despise, is the best school that an artist can study in, 
 provided he studies it, as eveiy man of genius will do, 
 with a philosophic eye ; not with a view merely to copy 
 the face before him, but to learn the character of it, 
 with a view to employ in more important works what 
 is good of it, and to reject what is not. It was in this 
 view that the great painters of the Roman and Bolog- 
 nese schools collected such numbers of studies of 
 heads from nature, which they afterwards embellished 
 and introduced in their pictures as occasion required. 
 Hence that boundless variety which is observed in their 
 works. 
 
 "I do not mean to recommend to the historical 
 painter to make his works an assemblage of caricatures, 
 like those of Hogarth and some of our present artists ; 
 but as there is scarcely any character so insipid that a 
 Shakspeare or a Fielding would not have been able to 
 discover something particular in, so there is scarcely 
 any countenance so vacant, but that there are some 
 trifling features which may be of use to a skilful and 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 217 
 
 ingenious artist ; though it seldom or never happens that 
 any character of countenance is sufficiently strong and 
 perfect to serve of itself for the hero of a poem or picture, 
 until it has been touched and embellished by the fostering 
 hand of the poet or the painter. 
 
 " Portrait-painting may be to the painter, what the 
 practical knowledge of the world is to the poet, pro- 
 vided he considers it as a school by which he is to ac- 
 quire the means of perfection in his art, and not as 
 the object of that perfection. It was practical know- 
 ledge of the world which gave the poetry of Homer 
 and Shakspeare that superiority which still exists over 
 all other works of the same kind ; and it was a philo- 
 sophic attention to the imitation of common nature, 
 which portrait-painting ought to be, that gave the 
 Roman and Bolognese schools their superiority over 
 the Florentine, which excelled so much in the theory 
 of the art.* 
 
 "We are told that many artists bestowed their 
 whole lives upon a single composition. We are not to 
 suppose that these great artists employed so many 
 vears in chipping one block of marble ; but that the 
 greatest part of the time was employed in studying 
 nature, particularly the vast and intricate branches of 
 physiology and pathology, in order to enable them to 
 
 * These remarks may be illustrated by the following extract 
 from Sir Joshua's catalogue to Ralph's Exhibition, which we 
 shall hereafter advert to. 
 
 No. 12. Lud. Caracci ; a study of a head from the life, for a 
 picture of St. Antonio, in the church of at Bologna. 
 
 " In the finished picture, all the more minute parts which are 
 here expressed, are omitted ; the light part is one broad mass ; 
 the scanty and lock of hair which falls on the forehead is there 
 much fuller and larger. A copy of this picture seen at the same 
 time with this study would be a good lesson to students, by show- 
 ing the different manner of painting a portrait and an historical 
 head ; and teach them, at the same time, the advantage of always 
 having recourse to nature." 
 
218 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 execute perfectly the great works which they had con- 
 ceived. 
 
 " I have seen a large cartoon copied from a little pic- 
 ture of the Vision of Ezekiel by RafFaelle, in which 
 the copyist thought, without doubt, to expand and illus- 
 trate the idea of the author ; but by losing the majestv 
 of the countenances which makes the original so sublime, 
 notwithstanding its being in miniature, his colossal copy 
 became ridiculous, instead of awful." 
 
 The passages which we have quoted above, are at- 
 tributed by Northcote to Sir Joshua, we think, with 
 great appearance of probability ; and such conclusion 
 will be fully sufficient to justify their insertion in this 
 place. We should willingly have added those of 
 Burke, which are written in excellent taste ; but their 
 length will not allow us to do so : one of them, however, 
 we must indulge ourselves by quoting ; and for the re- 
 maining passages we refer our readers to the " Life of 
 Barry." The passage we allude to is as follows : — 
 
 " It is not enough to know the forms, positions, and 
 proportions of the constituent parts of the animal ma- 
 chine, but we should know the nice changes that are 
 produced in them by the various affections of the mind, 
 as grief, agony, rage, &c. ; without this we may pro- 
 duce splendid compositions and graceful figures, but 
 we shall never approach that perfection to which the 
 ancients arrived, — a perfection to which, I fear, 
 the very constitution of modern society is an insur- 
 mountable obstacle. Such a minister as Pericles 
 might, perhaps, overcome it ; but considering the pre- 
 sent system of education, it is scarcely possible that 
 such a one should appear. To distinguish between 
 what is good and what is bad, falls to the lot of many ; 
 but to distinguish between what is barely good and 
 what is truly excellent, falls to the lot of very few ; 
 and it very rarely happens that any of these few are 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 219 
 
 kings and ministers, who are able and willing to re- 
 ward an artist for giving up his whole time to one ob- 
 ject ; which he must do if he means to make it truly 
 excellent."* 
 
 * It may be further suggested, that the strong expression of pas- 
 sion or sentiment, however true it may be to particular classes of 
 nature, is by no means sufficient for the historical painter, unless 
 it be also illustrative of the manner in which the personages re- 
 presented in his work would display the effects of their emotion. 
 The just discrimination, required in the artist, between what is 
 really consistent with truth, and that which is often termed natural, 
 is, perhaps, the most important desideratum in his art. The dis- 
 criminative feeling to which we allude, is the same with regard to 
 character and expression of countenance, as that which influenced 
 the sculptors of Greece in their admirable selection of form. 
 The form which they created, in endless variety, was not only 
 true to nature, in the general acceptation of the term, but it was 
 also true to those particular examples of nature which the artist 
 proposed to represent. 
 
 The Apollo, the Hercules, the Theseus, the Antinbus, are all 
 equally illustrative of nature ; but each of them has a character 
 peculiar to itself, and which cannot be said to distinguish any 
 other class than that to which the figure belongs ; indeed, it 
 could not be applied to another without a violation of pro- 
 priety. It is thus with regard to expression. Grief or rage may, 
 perhaps, be so strongly expressed in the countenance of a par- 
 ticular figure, that the majority of spectators who look on it will 
 immediately call to mind the expression of similar passions which 
 they may have witnessed in nature, and be struck with the 
 accuracy of the resemblance which the work of the artist may 
 bear to it. The parallel is, perhaps, truly drawn, and the ex- 
 pression of the figure which engrosses their attention may be ad- 
 mirably descriptive of nature, without being natural to the 
 character which the artist intended to pourtray. 
 
 The grief or the rage of an elevated mind will not be expressed 
 by the same peculiarities which may distinguish the expression of 
 those emotions in the countenance of an ordinary or low-minded 
 individual : both may feel equally excited, but each will express 
 his emotion in the manner peculiar to himself. There is nature 
 in both the expressions, but nature of a different class ; and if 
 the one should be applied to the other, the artist would fail in 
 his personification. 
 
 As the discriminative power which must regulate the artist in 
 his choice, is more the result of feeling than of reason, it follows 
 that the painter, who has not himself an elevated mind, will not be 
 
220 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Sir Joshua was at all times ready to give the benefit 
 of his advice to those who showed a disposition to 
 profit by it ; but he very rarely offered it unsolicited ; 
 conscious that, in such cases — to use his own expres- 
 sion—it usually "went in at one ear and out at the 
 other." In the year 1780, he wrote an admirable 
 letter to Mr. Pocock, the eminent marine painter, on 
 the subject of his profession, which contains so much 
 valuable advice to artists in that peculiar department, 
 that we shall need no apology for inserting it. 
 
 Mr. Pocock sent his first attempt in oil colours to 
 Sir Joshua, requesting him at the same time to give 
 his candid opinion on the work, and expressing a wish 
 that, if he approved of it, it might be exhibited at the 
 Royal Academy. Sir Joshua replied as follows : — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Your picture came too late for ex- 
 hibition. It is much beyond what I expected from a 
 first essay in oil colours : all the parts separately are 
 extremely well painted ; but there wants a harmony 
 in the whole together : there is no union between the 
 clouds, the sea, and the sails. Though the sea ap- 
 pears sometimes as green as you have painted it, 
 yet it is a choice very unfavourable to the art : it 
 seems to me absolutely necessary, in order to produce 
 
 able to conceive, and will consequently fail in representing, the 
 expression of elevated feeling in others ; and, on this account, the 
 artist who proposes to devote himself to the more intellectual 
 branches of the art, should come prepared to the study of them 
 with a cultivated mind, and with feeling as elevated as that which 
 he may have to represent in the personification of heroes, of mon- 
 archs, and of deities. The man of classical taste may descend 
 to the expression of ordinary feeling ; but he who has a common- 
 place mind will never rise to dignity and refinement in art, how- 
 ever strongly and truly he may chance to delineate the passions 
 and emotions of nature as presented to his own contracted view 
 of them. 
 
Sill JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 221 
 
 harmony, and that the picture should appear to be 
 painted, as the phrase is, from one palette, that those 
 three great objects of ship-painting should be much of 
 the same colour, as was the practice of Vandervelt ; 
 and he seems to have been driven to this conduct by 
 necessity. Whatever colour predominates in a picture, 
 that colour must be introduced in other parts ; but no 
 green colour, such as you have given to the sea, can 
 make a part of the sky. I believe the truth is, that 
 however the sea may appear green when you are 
 looking down upon it, and it is very near, — at such a 
 distance as your ships are supposed to be, it assumes 
 the colour of the sky. 
 
 " I would recommend to you, above sll things, to 
 paint from nature, instead of drawing ; to carry your 
 palette and pencils to the water-side. This was the 
 practice of Vernet, whom I knew at Rome : he there 
 showed me his studies in colours, which struck me 
 very much, for that truth which those works only have 
 which are produced while the impression is warm from 
 nature : at that time he was a perfect master of the 
 character of water, if 1 may. use the expression ; he is 
 now reduced to a mere mannerist, and no longer to 
 be recommended for imitation, except you would imi- 
 tate him by uniting landscape to ship painting, which 
 certainly makes a more pleasing composition than 
 either alone." 
 
 In the latter part of the summer of the year 1773, 
 Sir Joshua paid a visit to his native county, in conse- 
 quence of having been chosen mayor of the borough 
 of Plympton; and so strongly was he attached to the 
 place of his birth, that he declared that this circum- 
 stance gave him more pleasure than any other honour 
 which he had received during his life. On this oc- 
 casion he presented his portrait, painted by himself, to 
 
222 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 the corporation, who placed it in the town-hall. " It 
 is a good picture," says Northcote, " with a light sky- 
 background, and in his academical dress as Doctor of 
 Laws. 
 
 The vicar of a neighbouring parish, Mr. Alcock, 
 enclosed to Sir Joshua the following couplet, on the 
 receipt of his valuable present to the corporation : — 
 
 " Laudat Romanus Raphaelem, Graecus Apellem, 
 Plympton Reynolden jactat, utrique parem." 
 
 " But the new mayor," continues his biographer, 
 "though, perhaps, pleased with the compliment, mo- 
 destly declared that he thought it would be assuming 
 too much honour to himself, to have it affixed to, or 
 even put upon the back of, the picture, as intended. 
 
 It was in the same year, in the first week of July, 
 that Sir Joshua was admitted to the honorary degree 
 of Doctor of Civil Law of the University of Oxford. 
 Lord North was at the same time installed Chancellor 
 of the University. Fifteen persons were admitted to 
 degrees on that occasion ; but Sir Joshua and Dr. 
 Beattie were the only two who were distinguished bv 
 an encomium from Dr. Vansittart, the Professor of 
 Civil Law, whose duty it is to present the graduates 
 to the Chancellor ; and the only two who received any 
 extraordinary marks of applause. 
 
 Sir Joshua painted a fine allegorical portrait of Dr. 
 Beattie, in the dress of his Oxonian degree, with his 
 book on the Immutability of Truth beneath his arm. 
 The Angel of Truth goes before him, beating down 
 Sophistry, Scepticism, and Infidelity. Resemblances 
 have been discovered, in these personifications, to 
 Voltaire, Gibbon, and Hume ; but that of Voltaire ap- 
 pears to have been the only one intended by Sir 
 Joshua; and at this his friend Goldsmith was very 
 
STR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 223 
 
 indignant, exclaiming, when he saw it, " It ill becomes 
 a man of your eminence and character, Sir Joshua, 
 to condescend to flattery like this, or to think of de- 
 grading so high a genius as Voltaire before so mean 
 a writer as Beattie; Dr. Beattie and his book will be 
 as much forgotten in ten years as if it had never been 
 in existence; but your picture and the fame of Vol- 
 taire will live for ever, to your disgrace as a flatterer." 
 
 Few will venture to deny that Goldsmith was right 
 in his estimate of the talents of these writers ; but Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds valued the intention of the author, 
 more than the ability displayed in Beattie's book. 
 " He respected him," says Northcote, " more for his 
 virtues than his talents; frequently entertaining him 
 both at his house in town, and at his villa on Richmond 
 Hill ; testifying by every means in his power the esteem 
 he felt for him as a friend, and the opinion he held re- 
 specting his writings." That is, we must presume, 
 that they were well intended : and that the humble 
 efforts of the advocate of Truth were more honourable 
 than the splendid achievements of Infidelity. 
 
 It is probable, also, that the honours and the ap- 
 plause of the University were more freely bestowed 
 upon the man than the writer.* 
 
 The chapel of old Somerset House had been given 
 by his Majesty to the Royal Academy ; and it was 
 suggested by one of the members, on the occasion 
 
 * It may be observed, that Dr. Beattie either mistook the per- 
 sonification of the allegory, as intended, by Sir Joshua, or else 
 gave it purposely another meaning ; for he says, in one of his 
 letters, that the figures represented Prejudice, Scepticism, and 
 Folly, who are shrinking away from the light that beams on the 
 breast of the Angel. 
 
 Sir Joshua made a present of the work to the Doctor, who 
 appears to have been very justly proud of it ; he kept it covered 
 with a green silk curtain, and left it to his neice, Miss Glennie. 
 
224 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of a general meeting, "that the place would afford a 
 good opportunity of convincing the public of the ad- 
 vantages that would arise from ornamenting churches 
 and cathedrals with works of art." It was therefore 
 proposed that the members should decorate the chapel 
 with some of their own performances ; and the example, 
 it was thought, might thus afford an opening for the 
 introduction of the art into buildings of a similar 
 nature. 
 
 All the members of the Academy were struck with 
 the idea, and volunteeered their services without hesi- 
 tation : but Sir Joshua took the scheme up on a 
 bolder plan, and immediately proposed, as an amend- 
 ment, that, instead of contributing to ornament the 
 chapel, " they should fly at once at higher game, and 
 undertake St. Paul's cathedral." The grandeur of this 
 suggestion excited universal applause, and the amend- 
 ment was carried unanimously : the President was em- 
 powered to make the proper application to the Dean 
 and Chapter ; and Dr. Newton, Bishop of Bristol, at 
 that time Dean of St. Paul's, became a strong advocate 
 for the scheme. 
 
 A meeting of the Academy was then held on the 
 subject, and six artists were chosen for the attempt; 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, West, Barry, Dance, Cipriani, 
 and Angelica Kauffman. The Society for the En- 
 couragement of Arts came forward and took up the 
 measure, adding at the same time four artists to the 
 number originally fixed upon. 
 
 Sir Joshua engaged to present " The Nativity," and 
 West offered his picture of "Moses with the Laws." 
 But the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of 
 London, Dr. Terrick, refused their consent to the 
 plan ; and when Dr. Newton paid a visit to the latter, 
 expecting to receive his consent, and reported with 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 225 
 
 some degree of exultation the progress he had made 
 in the affair, the old Bishop, assuming a very grave 
 countenance, replied in the following terms : — " My 
 good Lord Bishop of Bristol, I have already been dis- 
 tantly and imperfectly informed of such an affair having 
 been in contemplation ; but as the sole power, at last, 
 remains with myself, I therefore inform your Lordship, 
 that whilst I live, and have the power, I will never suffer 
 the doors of the metropolitan church to be opened for 
 the introduction of popery into it !" 
 
 At that time, all works of sculpture were also ex- 
 cluded from St. Paul's ; for the Dean, Dr. Newton, who 
 died soon afterwards, desired in his will that a monu- 
 ment should be erected to his memory, which was to 
 cost 500/., and placed in the cathedral, if possible : this 
 he did with the liberal idea of introducing the art into 
 St. Paul's, as originally projected by Sir Christopher 
 Wren. The request was, however, denied to the 
 family ; and the monument, executed by Banks, was 
 placed in St. Bride's Church, of which Dr. Newton 
 was the rector. 
 
 In this year (1773), Sir Joshua painted that portrait 
 of himself which is now in the Royal Academy : it re- 
 presents him attired as a Doctor of Laws, in the cap and 
 gown of his honorary degree. 
 
 Three years afterwards Northcote took leave of his 
 instructor : the parting was highly creditable to the 
 feelings of both, and Reynolds concluded by observing, 
 " Remember that something more is to be done now 
 than formerly ; Kneller, Lely, and Hudson will not do 
 now." I was rather surprised, observes his pupil, to 
 hear Sir Joshua join the two former names with that of 
 Hudson, who was so evidently their inferior, as to be 
 out of all comparison. But Reynolds, when he made 
 the remark, had a more extended view of the art in 
 
 VOL. i. <j 
 
226 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 his thoughts than Lely or Kneller ever dreamt of ; he 
 did not mean to compare them with Hudson, hut to 
 suggest to his pupil that a nobler idea of the resources 
 of the painter must be formed, and that the British 
 school of art had already begun to appreciate the value 
 of higher authorities. 
 
 This feeling was strong in Sir Joshua. One day at 
 dinner, when Northcote was present, Miss Reynolds 
 said, " Brother, how happens it that we never meet 
 with any pictures by Jarvis the painter?" Sir Joshua 
 replied very briskly, — " Because they are all up in the 
 garret !" 
 
 Northcote once heard Sir Joshua assert, that, at the 
 time when he began his career as a painter, the ad- 
 miration of the works of Kneller was so predominant, 
 that if any one had ventured to name those of Vandyke 
 in competition with them, the painters, then living, would 
 have laughed him to scorn, as having advanced the 
 greatest absurdity. 
 
 Of mere likeness, in portraiture, Reynolds thought 
 very little ; and used to say that he could instruct any 
 boy, that chance might throw in his way, to paint a like- 
 ness in a portrait in half a year's time ; but to give an 
 impressive and a just expression and character to a pic- 
 ture, or to paint it like Velasquez, was another thing 
 " What we are all," he said, " attempting to do with 
 great labour, he does at once." 
 
 His views of art were somewhat different from those 
 of the Dean of Gloucester, who said once, at a meeting 
 of the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, 
 that he thought a pinmaker was a more useful and valu- 
 ble member of society than Raphael. 
 
 Sir Joshua has left a fragment in allusion to this 
 circumstance, written in his own hand, and probably 
 at the time when the remark was made, wherein he 
 states that " this is an observation of a very narrow 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 227 
 
 mind ; a mind that is confined to the mere object of 
 commerce ; that sees with a microscopic eye but a 
 part of the great machine of the economy of life, and 
 thinks that small part which he sees to be the whole. 
 Commerce is the means, not the end, of happiness or 
 pleasure : the end is a rational enjoyment of life, by 
 means of arts and sciences ; it is, therefore, the highest 
 degree of folly to set the means in a higher rank of 
 esteem than the accomplished end. It is as much as 
 to say that the brickmaker is a more useful member of 
 society than the architect who employs him. The 
 usefulness of the brickmaker is acknowledged, but the 
 rank of him and of the architect are very different. No 
 man deserves better of mankind, than he who has the 
 art of opening sources of intellectual pleasure and in- 
 struction by means of the senses." 
 
 Without professing to agree with Sir Joshua in his 
 opinion of what constitutes the end of human life, we 
 may certainly allow that intellectual enjoyments de- 
 serve a much higher place in the estimate of happiness 
 than those which we only have in common with the 
 selfish, the gross, or the illiterate. Whatever tends 
 to enlarge the contracted mind, or to contribute to 
 the rational enjoyment of those who can appreciate 
 the value of intellect, is of sterling importance to so- 
 ciety : the arts and the sciences have manifestly such 
 a tendency, and are, therefore, peculiarly deserving of 
 encouragement ; but they cannot, with propriety, be 
 considered as the ends of creation, if happiness be sup- 
 posed to be its object, more than those pursuits with 
 which Sir Joshua has contrasted them. Were it so, 
 the man of taste and the philosopher would have 
 better security for happiness themselves, and would 
 contribute much more to the happiness of others, than 
 we find to be consistent with fact ; and would mono- 
 q 2 
 
228 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 polise a greater share of human enjoyment than appears 
 to have been intended for their portion. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1774, the Society of 
 Arts are said to have passed the resolution, that a 
 series of historical and allegorical pictures should be 
 painted by the most approved artists of the kingdom, 
 to decorate their new room in the Adelphi. It was 
 proposed that there should be eight historical and two 
 allegorical subjects; the former to be illustrative of 
 British history. 
 
 The profits arising from the exhibition of these 
 works were to be appropriated, for a limited time, to 
 the remuneration of the artists employed, of whom the 
 selection was as follows : — The historical painters were 
 to have been Sir Joshua Reynolds, Angelica Kauff- 
 man, West, Cipriani; Barry, Wright, Mortimer, and 
 Dance : the allegorical designs to be executed by Penny 
 and Romney. 
 
 Sir Joshua, however, after some deliberation, thought 
 proper to decline the proposal; and the rooms have 
 since been decorated, as is well known, by Barry, 
 solely. 
 
 Barry had then completed his studies at Rome, and 
 had been for some time in England ; but notwithstand- 
 ing the friendship which had been always expressed, 
 and always manifested, towards him by Reynolds, he 
 had latterly made but an ungrateful return for it, and 
 allowed himself to be influenced by feelings of resent- 
 ment and caprice for which Sir Joshua never gave him 
 any cause ; but which, perhaps, as Northcote has ob- 
 served, may have partly arisen from the petty jealousy 
 which he felt at Sir Joshua's having painted a portrait of 
 Burke, for his friend, Mr. Thrale. 
 
 While in Italy, Barry expressed himself grateful tor 
 the sensible and well-timed advice of Sir Joshua ; and 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 229 
 
 it is reasonable to conclude that he profited much by it, 
 for there are few who have pursued their art with more 
 enthusiasm or more industry than he did ; but at the 
 period alluded to, the natural impetuosity of his temper, 
 which rendered him peculiarly impatient of advice, and, 
 indeed, of remarks of any kind connected with him- 
 self, was restrained by the difference of rank in the art 
 which existed between him and Reynolds. There is 
 no sense of rivalship between student and preceptor ; 
 and the jealousy with which Barry in after life re- 
 garded Sir Joshua, and all those who were qualified to 
 enter the lists with him, had not then begun to display 
 itself. The. hostile feeling was probably in a great 
 measure strengthened by the comparison between his 
 own scanty means of existence and the affluent cir- 
 cumstances of Reynolds ; he felt that the department 
 of art which he professed was entitled to more en- 
 couragement than it received in his hands ; and might 
 also have imagined that Sir Joshua's success was 
 greater than a portrait-painter merited, and have thought 
 himself defrauded of his right to public favour by one 
 who should have ranked as his inferior. 
 
 Whatever were the causes of Barry's hostility, they 
 continued till the death of its object dissolved it ; and 
 then the kindly feelings of the man — for he had them — 
 took place of the jealousy and the pride of the artist. 
 
 fn his sixth Lecture, read at the Academy, in his 
 department as Professor of Painting, Barry freely be- 
 stowed some well- deserved encomiums on Sir Joshua, 
 about twelve months after his decease ; and the Mar- 
 chioness of Thomond, who inherited by her uncle's will 
 the greater part of Reynolds's property, presented him, 
 in token of acknowledgment, the chair in which Sir 
 Joshua placed his sitters. 
 
 " Alas ! this chair," said Barry, in reply, " that had 
 Q 3 
 
230 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 such a glorious career of fortune, instrumental as it 
 has been in giving the most advantageous stability to 
 the otherwise fleeting, perishable graces of a Ladv 
 Sarah Bunbury or a Waldegrave, or in perpetuating 
 the negligent honest exterior of the authors of the 
 Rambler, the Traveller, and almost every one to whom 
 the public admiration gave a currency for abilities, 
 beauty, rank, or fashion ! 
 
 " The very chair that is immortalised in Mrs. 
 Siddons's Tragic Muse, where it will have as much 
 celebrity as the chair of Pindar, which for so many 
 ages was shown in the porch at Olympia ! — this chair 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds may rest well satisfied with 
 the reputation it has gained ; and although its present 
 possessor may not be enabled to grace it with anv new 
 ornament, yet it can surely count upon finding a most 
 affectionate reverential conservator, whilst God shall 
 permit it to remain under his care." 
 
 In the year 1799, Sir Joshua contributed to the de- 
 coration of the new apartments of the Academy at 
 Somerset House, by executing a picture for the hand- 
 some ceiling of the library. The subject of the work 
 is a beautiful personification of the Theory of Painting ; 
 in her hand is a scroll with the following inscription : — 
 " Theory is the knowledge of what is truly nature," — a 
 definition, says Northcote, quite in unison with the 
 general principle so ably maintained by the painter 
 throughout his discourses. To the Council-room Sir 
 Joshua also contributed the portraits of his Majesty 
 George III., and that of his royal consort. His own 
 portrait also occupies a prominent place there, represent- 
 ing him as attired in his favourite costume — the cap and 
 gown peculiar to his honorary degree. 
 
 The same year terminated the mortal career of 
 Garrick ; whose fame will descend to posterity, with that 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 231 
 
 of Kemble and Siddons, through many succeeding ge- 
 nerations ; and when the talents of the actor shall cease 
 to he appreciated, his name will still remain to claim the 
 glory which attached to them. 
 
 Garrick continued to act till a late period of his life ; 
 and when the circumstance was mentioned to Sir Joshua 
 as extraordinary, since his fame had been long esta- 
 blished and his fortune was made, the experience which 
 Reynolds had acquired of human nature suggested, 
 "that it was necessary for Garrick to do so, in order 
 to preserve his popularity, and to keep up his import- 
 ance with the great, who soon neglect and forget those 
 who cease to be the town talk, however eminent they 
 may have been." 
 
 In this year, Sir Joshua, who had previously raised 
 his price to thirty-five guineas for a head, now extended 
 it to fifty, at which it continued during the remainder 
 of his life. " His rapidly accumulating fortune," says 
 Northcote, " was not, however, for his sole enjoyment ; 
 he still felt the luxury of doing good, and had many 
 objects of bounty pointed out to him by his friend 
 Johnson • who, in one of his letters in this year to Mrs. 
 Piozzi, inquires, ' Will master give me any thing for my 
 poor neighbours? I have had from Sir Joshua and 
 Mr. Strahan.' " 
 
 It has been asserted that Sir Joshua Reynolds was 
 habitually parsimonious and avaricious : but when Gains- 
 borough asked him sixty guineas for his celebrated 
 picture of "The Girl and Pigs," Sir Joshua liberally 
 paid him down a hundred, observing that the merit of 
 the work entitled him to more than he asked for it. 
 "Malice has charged him with avarice," says a con- 
 temporary artist, Mr. Daves, " probably from his not 
 having been prodigal, like too many of his profession, 
 His offer to me proves the contrary. — At the time that I 
 Q 4 
 
232 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 made the drawings of the King, at St. Paul's, after his 
 illness, Reynolds complimented me handsomely on 
 seeing them, and afterwards observed, that the labour 
 bestowed must have been such that I could not be re- 
 munerated by selling them ; but if I would publish them 
 myself, he would lend me the money necessary, and 
 engage to get a handsome subscription among the 
 nobility." 
 
 In addition to these instances of what candour will 
 term liberality, we may subjoin a little anecdote recorded 
 by Northcote : — 
 
 " An artist," he says, " of considerable merit, with 
 a large and increasing family, was reduced at one time 
 so very low in his circumstances, that he could not 
 venture out without danger of being arrested. Sir 
 Joshua, having accidentally heard of his situation, im- 
 mediately hurried to his residence, to inquire into the 
 truth of the report : when he arrived there, the unfor- 
 tunate artist told him all the melancholy particulars of 
 his lot ; adding, that 40/. would enable him to com- 
 pound with his creditors. After some little further 
 conversation, Sir Joshua took his leave, assuring the 
 distressed man that he would do something for him; 
 and when he was bidding him adieu, he took him 
 kindly by the hand, and pressing it with warmth, 
 hurried off with that kind of triumph in his heart which 
 the exalted of human kind only experience ; whilst the 
 astonished artist found that he had left in his grasp a 
 bank-note of 100/. Of such traits of benevolence," his 
 biographer adds, " many other instances might certainly 
 be recorded," 
 
 It has been suggested in a recent publication, that 
 Sir Joshua " could afford to be liberal ;" but experience 
 will convince us that they who have the means of in- 
 dulging a benevolent feeling, have not always the 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 233 
 
 inclination to do so ; and, indeed, it may be often ob- 
 served in our own time, as it has been at more remote 
 periods, that " the desire of amassing increates in pro- 
 portion to the increase of wealth. If those who had 
 the best means of judging correctly have united in as- 
 suring us that Reynolds was benevolent, it appears to 
 be unnecessary to look for other motives, by which he 
 might possibly have been influenced, than those by 
 which benevolence is usually excited ; and it seems to 
 be unreasonable to assign as its cause, that which will 
 fail to account for it. 
 
 It was in the year 1780 that the members of the 
 Royal Academy first began to exhibit in Somerset 
 House ; for it was not till then that the apartments 
 were completed, which had been for some years in 
 progress for their accommodation. On this occasion 
 the critics of the day were diffuse in their remarks on 
 the importance of the new establishment. One of 
 them has expressed himself in the following terms : — 
 
 "The excellence to which the arts have arisen, in 
 England, call particularly on the attention of the world. 
 The progress of the Academy has been so rapid, that 
 though this is only the twelfth year of its existence, it 
 has already made Great Britain the seat of the arts ; 
 and in painting, sculpture, and engraving, it rivals, if 
 it does not excel, all other schools in Europe. In all 
 ages the progress of the arts to excellence has been 
 slow and gradual ; but it is the singular merit of the 
 Royal Academy of Britain, that it has broke through 
 the fetters with which similar institutions have here- 
 tofore been confined, and by one rapid stride has 
 obtained the pre-eminence of all competitors." 
 
 Sir Joshua's offerings to this exhibition were — his 
 portrait of Miss Beauclerc, in the character of Spen- 
 cer's Una, and his emblematical figure of Justice: 
 
234 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 painted as a model for the window which Mr, Jarvis 
 was then executing at Oxford. To these were added 
 Ids portraits of Gibbon, of Lady Beaumont, Lord Chol- 
 mondeley, and the Duke of Gloucester. The receipts 
 of this year, says Northcote, exceeded the sum of 
 3000/. 
 
 From 1769 to 1780, the Exhibitions produced, at an 
 average, about 1500/. The receipts in 1780 amounted 
 to more than 3000/. ; and those of 1796 exceeded that 
 sum, being the year of the greatest receipt, says Ma- 
 lone, from the first institution of the Academy. They 
 have since, we believe, averaged more than 3000/., and 
 are said to have occasionally exceeded four thousand. 
 
 The rapid progress of art, and the improvement of 
 the national taste, may be supposed to have greatly 
 contributed to increase the receipts of the Academy, 
 and the variety observable in the annual exhibitions 
 could scarcely fail to be a source of attraction. At 
 present there is scarcely a department in the art which 
 is not occupied by painters of talent ; and some of them 
 have carried the branches which they profess to a greater 
 degree of perfection than has ever been attained by others. 
 If the Arts were more .considered by the Government of 
 the country as objects of national importance, and more 
 frequently introduced in public discussions as subjects of 
 national interest, they would probably receive the only 
 stimulus which is wanting in their present state of general 
 improvement. 
 
 The patronage conferred by individuals on Art is as 
 extensive in its range as it is honourable to those who 
 diffuse it, and beneficial to the artists who experience 
 it. But there is no substitute for national encourage- 
 ment : if the state will not show that it partakes in the 
 interest excited ; if it will not take the lead in the 
 patronage of Art, ana establish its importance as a 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 235 
 
 national benefit, as an object entitled to national pro- 
 tection and encouragement, there still remain an 
 obstacle to its farther advancement, which nothing can 
 effectually remove. 
 
 The patronage of the Sovereign has been liberally 
 extended to the Arts and the Artists of the country 
 ever since the establishment of the Royal Academy ; and 
 they have certainly derived proportionate advantage and 
 importance from the operation of so powerful an im- 
 pulse. But the Royal protection has not been com- 
 bined with that of the Government of the country, and 
 the King may be said to have extended to the Arts 
 the liberal patronage of the highest individual in the 
 nation, in which the nation itself has not participated. 
 If Great Britain should be destined to see the Houses 
 of Parliament united with the Sovereign in the patron- 
 age of art, it will prove to the world that the result of 
 such encouragement is worthy of the means employed 
 to promote it; and the Arts will be placed upon the 
 only foundation which can raise them above the vicis- 
 situdes of caprice, and secure to them a permanent 
 establishment. * 
 
 " Surelv, in concerns of this kind, there can be no 
 room for the considerations of petty economy — for the 
 demurrings of estimate and calculation : there is an 
 expense which enriches and adorns a state, and an 
 economy which impoverishes and degrades it. The one 
 is the enlightened, policy of the merchant, connected 
 with the commerce of the world, who calculates on the 
 broad scale of profit and loss, comprehends remote ad- 
 vantages, combines complicated operations, and pours 
 out his funds with apparent profusion through a thou- 
 sand outlets of hazardous adventure, — secure in the 
 general result of his principles, and calmly tracing the 
 progress of his interests through all their circuitous 
 
236 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 channels of return : the other is the short- sighted so- 
 licitude of the pedler, whose ideas are confined to 
 his counter — who, incapable of generalised views or 
 extended operations, sees not beyond the first links 
 of vulgar advantage, but casting up in his terrified 
 imagination the paltry items of daily disbursement, suffers 
 the apprehensions of expense to overcome the hopes of 
 profit, till he has neither understanding to speculate nor 
 spirit to adventure." 
 
 " It is the policy of a great nation to be liberal and 
 magnificent ; to be free of her rewards, splendid in 
 her establishments, and gorgeous in her public works. 
 These are not the expenses that sap and mine the 
 foundations of public prosperity, that break in upon 
 the capital, or lay waste the income of a state ; they 
 may be said to arise in her most enlightened views of 
 general advantage ; to be amongst her best and most 
 profitable speculations; they produce large returns of 
 respect and consideration from our neighbours and 
 competitors — of patriotic exultation amongst ourselves ; 
 they make men proud of their country, and, from 
 priding in it, prompt in its defence ; they play upon 
 all the chords of generous feeling, elevate us above the 
 animal and the machine, and make us triumph in the 
 powers and attributes of man." 
 
 " What expense can be more gracious, more becom- 
 ing, more popular ? can tend more directly " to bless 
 him that giveth and him who receiveth," than that 
 which is directed to adorn and dignify our country — 
 which does honour to her valour and her virtue — which 
 calls forth the energies of her genius, and directs them 
 to the celebration of her fame ?" * 
 
 We have noticed the receipts of the Royal Academy 
 
 * Extract from the Preface of Shee's Rhymes on Art. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 237 
 
 as resulting from the profits of the annual exhibitions ; 
 and as the public are but little acquainted with the 
 objects on which they are employed, a brief statement 
 of them may not be unacceptable, and we give it to the 
 best of our ability, 
 
 It may readily be imagined that the current ex- 
 penses of the household, in an establishment like that 
 of Somerset House, are not of inconsiderable amount, 
 and these are wholly defrayed by the Academy. But 
 the expenses connected with the schools are of a much 
 more extensive nature, and they are as permanent as 
 those of the household. The students of the Academy 
 are provided with an ample collection of casts from the 
 best antique statues, from which they may study night 
 and day under the guidance and instruction of the 
 keeper, an artist of talent, appointed chiefly for this 
 purpose, who receives a salary from the Royal Academy. 
 There is also a school for the study of nature from 
 living models, the expenses of which are considerable, 
 and, like those of the antique academy, admit of no 
 intermission. 
 
 There are professors appointed in the several branches 
 of painting, sculpture, architecture, anatomy, and per- 
 spective, who are bound to deliver periodical lectures 
 to the students on the subjects connected with their 
 respective appointments, and each of these has a salary 
 from the Academy. Added to these, there are the 
 salaries of the secretary and librarian, and the ex- 
 penses connected with a well-furnished library, to 
 which the students have constant access. There are 
 annual and biennial prizes distributed regularly to the 
 successful candidates in painting, sculpture, drawing, 
 and architecture, for which any student may offer 
 himself, and which consist of gold and silver medals, 
 and books on the subject of art, which are handsomely 
 
238 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 bound for the occasion. All these are not furnished 
 at a trifling- expense, and the Academy provide for it 
 annually. 
 
 In addition to this liberal encouragement, there are 
 constantly two of the students in Italy, where thev 
 are entitled to remain for three years, at the sole 
 expense of the Academy, from whom they receive an 
 allowance of 100/, a year, besides a sum which is 
 amply sufficient to defray all their travelling expenses, 
 as well in returning as in going abroad. The students 
 sent to Italy are selected from those who, have pre- 
 viously obtained the gold medal either in painting, 
 sculpture, or architecture. 
 
 To all these advantages students are admitted with- 
 out any expense whatever to themselves, and the 
 number received by the Academy is subject to no 
 limitation. 
 
 It may well be imagined that a considerable sum 
 must be necessarily devoted to the objects already enu- 
 merated ; but it is regularly set apart by the Academy 
 for these purposes from the funds which result from 
 the profits of the annual exhibitions. These expenses 
 are constant and permanent, but there are others in- 
 curred by the Academy, which it is necessary that 
 they should at all times be prepared to meet. There 
 are pensions for the widows of such members of the 
 Academy as may not have been able to provide for 
 them ; and allowances to such of the members them- 
 selves to whom age and infirmity, or the pressure of 
 misfortune, may have rendered such assistance ne- 
 cessary. The charitable donations of the Royal Aca- 
 demy to artists not belonging to their body, or their 
 families, are at the same time very considerable ; and 
 for these they are only enabled to provide by the over- 
 plus which may have been left in their hands after 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 239 
 
 paying the current expenses enumerated, so that any 
 diminution in the annual receipt must necessarily limit 
 these acts of benevolence. 
 
 There are other expenses incurred by the Academy 
 which might be added to those above mentioned ; but 
 enough has been already stated to prove, that the funds 
 which are derived from the profits of the annual ex- 
 hibitions are not wasted on objects of trivial import- 
 ance, or suffered to remain unemployed with advantage. 
 Indeed, when we consider that a body of artists sup- 
 port, by the profits of their own exertions, without 
 any assistance from the government of the country 
 or from any other quarter whatever, the only efficient 
 school of art in the kingdom, for the gratuitous in- 
 struction of students, and unite in the endeavour to 
 encourage rising merit, and to call forth the talent of 
 those who may eventually become formidable rivals to 
 themselves ; we are bound to applaud the liberality of 
 sentiment and disinterested public spirit of the Royal 
 Academy, which has, in truth, effected more for the 
 arts of the country than the splendid establishments 
 which other nations have founded under the immediate 
 protection of their respective governments. 
 
 Sir Joshua delivered two discourses in the year 1780 ; 
 the first of which he gave on the 1 6th October, at the 
 opening of the Academy in its present state. 
 
 He was busily employed at this time, and for several 
 successive years, in completing his designs for the cer 
 lebrated painted window, in new College Chapel at 
 Oxford. In the lower range of this structure there 
 were seven compartments, each of twelve feet in 
 height and three in width, which were decorated with 
 the allegorical figures of the four cardinal and three 
 christian virtues, — Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, 
 Prudence, Faith, Hope, and Charity. The figures are 
 
240 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 accompanied by their several attributes ; and they are 
 all single, with the exception of the central one, in 
 which Charity is personified with an attendant group 
 of children. Above this, on a scale of ten feet by 
 eighteen, is " The Nativity," a composition of thirteen 
 figures, in which Northcote remarks, " that Sir Joshua 
 had great advantage over Correggio, who, in his cele- 
 brated ' Notte,' introduces no light in the painting, but 
 that which proceeds from the infant Saviour. The 
 idea is grand," he continues, " though not of Correg- 
 gio's invention ; and Sir Joshua judiciously adopted it on 
 this occasion, because, from the transparent medium 
 on which the composition is painted, the light actually 
 proceeds from that part from which the painter sup- 
 poses it to emanate. Reynolds cannot, however, be 
 said to have copied it ; for his execution, both in manner 
 and circumstance," continues Northcote, " gives it the 
 effect of novelty." 
 
 The design for this work was purchased by the 
 Duke of Rutland for 1200 guineas, and was unfor- 
 tunately burnt at Belvoir Castle, with many other 
 admirable performances ; those of " The Cardinal Vir- 
 tues" were left by Sir Joshua to the Marchioness of 
 Thomond. 
 
 The execution of the window was intrusted to Mr. 
 Jarvis, an eminent painter on glass, who was also em- 
 ployed on similar occasions by West ; his portrait, 
 with that of Sir Joshua himself, is introduced in the 
 picture of " The Nativity," they are both represented 
 as shepherds. 
 
 It seems to have been originally intended to distri- 
 bute the figures in different parts of the chapel ; but 
 this idea was judiciously opposed by Sir Joshua, who 
 prevailed on the parties concerned to have the west 
 window prepared for the reception of the whole. Two 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 241 
 
 of his letters, illustrative of this subject, have been 
 quoted by Mr. Malone. They are as follows : — 
 
 " I am extremely glad to hear that the Society have 
 determined to place all our works together in the west 
 window, to make one complete whole, instead of being 
 distributed in different parts of the chapel. In my 
 conversation with Mr. Jervais about it, he thought it 
 might be possible to change the stone-work of the 
 window, so as to make a principal predominant space 
 in the centre, without which it will be difficult to 
 produce a great effect. As Mr. Jervais is now at Ox- 
 ford, I need add no more : I have already explained to 
 him how much I wished that this alteration might be 
 practicable." 
 
 In the subsequent letter, he says, — " Supposing this 
 scheme to take place" (the alteration proposed above), 
 " my idea is to paint, in the great space in the centre, 
 • Christ in the Manger,' on the principle that Correggio 
 has done it, in the famous picture called the ' Notte,' 
 making all the light proceed from Christ. The tricks ot 
 the art, as they may be called, seem to be more pro- 
 perly adapted to glass painting than any other kind. 
 The middle space will be filled with the Virgin, Christ, 
 Joseph, and Angels ; the two smaller parts on each 
 side I shall fill with the Shepherds coming to wor- 
 ship, and the seven divisions below with the figures 
 of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the four Cardinal 
 Virtues, which will make a proper rustic base, or 
 foundation, for the support of the Christian religion, 
 Upon the whole, it appears to me that chance has pre- 
 sented to us materials so well adapted to our purpose 
 that if we had the whole window of our own invention 
 and contrivance, we should not, probably, have suc- 
 ceeded better." 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
242 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In July, 1781, Sir Joshua made a tour to the Nether- 
 lands and to Holland, in company with his friend Mr. 
 Metcalf, for the purpose of viewing the celebrated 
 productions of the Dutch and Flemish schools. The 
 account of this journey will be found among his writ- 
 ings, containing remarks on the pictures preserved in 
 the various churches and cabinets which he visited. 
 To these he has subjoined a very masterly character 
 of Rubens. 
 
 As many of the works of Rubens, and other masters 
 of the Flemish school, were to be sold in 1783, in conse- 
 quence of the suppression of the greater part of the re- 
 ligious and monastic establishments in the Netherlands 
 Sir Joshua made another journey to Flanders, and laid 
 out upwards of a thousand pounds in pictures, many 
 of which were of considerable value. On viewing the 
 works of Rubens a second time, they appeared to him 
 much colder in tone than on the former occasion, and 
 he could not at first account for this circumstance; 
 "but he afterwards recollected," says Mr. Malone, 
 " that when he first saw them he had his note-book in 
 his hand, for the purpose of writing down short re- 
 marks, and imagined that as the eye passed quickly 
 from the paper to the pictures, the colours derived a 
 greater degree of richness and warmth from the con- 
 trast than they subsequently appeared to possess when 
 viewed without this foil." Sir Joshua's observation ap- 
 pears to be reasonable; but we should feel more in- 
 clined to adopt the suggestion of Northcote, who 
 thinks it probable that Reynolds had improved in the 
 interim, and that his second impression was on that 
 account less favourable. In support of this opinion, 
 he remarks that Sir Joshua, on his first return from 
 the Netherlands, thought his own pictures wanted 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 243 
 
 force ; and it was observed that he afterwards painted 
 with greater depth and brilliancy of colour. 
 
 It may also be suggested, that the first impression 
 which is left on the mind of the spectator by many of 
 Rubens' s pictures is generally the most favourable : for 
 when the spirit and enthusiasm of the painter are 
 familiar to us, we are left more at liberty to criticise 
 the works with which we may at first sight have been 
 dazzled, and there are few of the productions of this 
 great master which are free from serious imperfec- 
 tions.* 
 
 At this period Sir Joshua composed the elaborate 
 notes with which he has illustrated Mr. Mason's trans- 
 lation of Du Fresnoy's Art of Painting, which, we have 
 alreadv remarked, the author was induced to complete 
 by the offer which Reynolds made of contributing to 
 the work. It was published shortly afterwards. 
 
 In the exhibition of 1781, Sir Joshua's " Thais," and 
 his splendid composition of " The Death of Dido," drew 
 immense crowds to Somerset House, and excited uni- 
 versal admiration and applause. Every picture, indeed, 
 that he exhibited, appeared to increase his reputation ; 
 and though he had already effected so much, he never 
 
 * " While at Antwerp," observes Northcote, " Sir Joshua took 
 particular notice of a young man of the name of De Gree, who 
 had exhibited considerable talent as a painter. His father was a 
 tailor, and he himself had been intended for some clerical office, 
 but having formed a different opinion of his religion than was in- 
 tended, from the books put into his hands by an Abbe, who was 
 ins patron, it was discovered that he would not do for a priest, 
 and the Abbe therefore articled him to Gerrards. an artist of Ant- 
 werp. Sir Joshua received him on his arrival in England with 
 much kindness, and strongly'' recommended him to pursue his 
 Profession in the metropolis ; but De Gree was unwilling to con- 
 sent to this, as he had been previously engaged by Mr. Latouche 
 to proceed to Ireland. Even here Sir Joshua's friendly attentions 
 did not cease, for he actually made the poor artist a present of 
 50 guineas to lit him for his Hibernian excursion." 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 relaxed in his study or his labours, but seemed to con- 
 sider the excellence which he had already attained as 
 little more than the means of farther advancement. 
 
 His noble portrait of Mrs. Siddons as "The Tragic 
 Muse*," exhibited with " the Fortune-teller," in 1784, 
 and his "Infant Hercules," painted for the Empress 
 of Russia, and placed over the chimney-piece in the 
 exhibition of 1788, called forth repeated bursts of 
 enthusiastic delight. 
 
 " « The Infant Hercules,' " says Northcote, in speak- 
 ing of this exhibition, " was the first picture which 
 presented itself on entering the room, and it had the 
 most splendid effect of any picture I ever saw." 
 
 Barry also, in his comments on Sir Joshua, observes : 
 — "Nothing can exceed the brilliancy of light, the 
 force and vigorous effect of his picture of * The Infant 
 Hercules strangling the Serpents it possesses all that 
 we look for and are accustomed to admire in Rem- 
 brandt, united to beautiful forms and to an elevation 
 of mind to which Rembrandt had no pretensions ; the 
 prophetical agitation of Tiresias and Juno, enveloped 
 
 * This portrait of Mrs. Siddons is said to be the only one on 
 which Sir Joshua inscribed his name, as if content to risk his 
 claims to the admiration of future ages on the single example of 
 his matchless skill. It was written on part of the drapery, and 
 on looking at the picture in its finished state, Mrs. Siddons 
 stooped down to examine what she supposed to be a piece of 
 classic embroidery, but which she found to be Sir Joshua's signa- 
 ture. She turned to the artist, on remarking the circumstance, 
 and Reynolds immediately observed—" I could not lose the honour 
 which this opportunity offered me of transmitting my name to 
 posterity on the hem of your garment." 
 
 When the group representing Lady Cockburn and her children, 
 exhibited by Sir Joshua in 1775, was first brought into the great 
 room at Somerset House, all the artists then present were so much 
 struck with its extraordinary beauty and splendour of effect, that 
 they testified their approbation of its merits by loud and simul- 
 taneous applause. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 245 
 
 with clouds, hanging over the scene, like a black pesti- 
 lence, can never be too much admired, and are, indeed, 
 truly sublime." 
 
 On receiving this commission from the Empress of 
 Russia, " Sir Joshua debated long with himself," con- 
 tinues Northcote, " on what subject to fix which might 
 he complimentary to the Empress ; and at first I heard 
 him say that he would paint the procession of our 
 great Queen Elizabeth when she visited her camp at. 
 Tilbury, in the time of the threatened Spanish inva- 
 sion. But at last he made choice of ' The Infant 
 Hercules overcoming the Serpents when in his cradle,' 
 as the most fit, in allusion to the great difficulties which 
 the Empress had to encounter in the civilisation of her 
 empire, arising from the rude state in which she found 
 it. This picture he finished ; it was a large and grand 
 composition, and, in respect to beauty, colour, and ex- 
 pression, was equal to any picture known in the world. 
 The middle group, which received the principal light, 
 was exquisite in the highest degree." 
 
 Whether the compliment was ever explained to the 
 Empress is uncertain : but soon after the picture ar- 
 rived at St. Petersburgh, Count Woronzow, the Rus- 
 sian ambassador, waited on Sir Joshua to inform him 
 that the work had been received, with two sets of his 
 Discourses, one in French, the other in English, which 
 had been sent with the picture by desire of Her Im- 
 perial Majesty. At the same time he delivered a gold 
 box to Sir Joshua (on which was the Empress's por- 
 trait, enriched with very large diamonds), containing a 
 liighly complimentary letter written by Catherine with 
 her own hand. The ambassador also left with Sir 
 Joshua a copy of the following directions to him- 
 self :— 
 
 e3 
 
MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Mons. Le Comte Woronzow. — I have read, 
 and I may say, with the greatest avidity, those dis- 
 courses pronounced at the Royal Academy of London 
 hy Sir Joshua Reynolds, which that illustrious artist 
 sent me with his picture : in both productions one may 
 easily trace a most elevated genius. 
 
 "I recommend to you to give my thanks to Sir 
 Jo shua, and to remit him the box I send as a testimony 
 of the great satisfaction which the perusal of his Dis- 
 courses has given me, and which I look upon as, 
 perhaps, the best work that ever was written on the 
 subject. 
 
 " My portrait, which is on the cover of the box, is 
 of a composition made at my Hermitage, where they 
 are now at work about impressions on the stones found 
 there. 
 
 " I expect you will inform me of the price of the 
 large picture on the subject of which I have already 
 spoken to you in another letter. 
 
 " Adieu — I wish you well, 
 
 (Signed) " Catherine. 
 "St. Petersburgh, March 5. 1790." 
 
 "The portrait mentioned in the Imperial letter," 
 continues Northcote, "was a basso relievo of her Ma- 
 jesty ; and Sir Joshua's executors afterwards received 
 1500 guineas for the painting, which is now at St. 
 Petersburgh." 
 
 On taking leave of this work, Reynolds said to a 
 friend: — "There are ten pictures under it, some 
 better, some worse." So earnest was his desire to 
 obtain the highest excellence, and so conspicuous was 
 his modesty in commenting upon the uncertainty of 
 his practice. 
 
 " After Sir Joshua had finished the Hercules," con- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 247 
 
 tinued Northcote, " he painted a very fine picture, in 
 the same style of colour, on a three-quarter canvass, 
 of a girl sleeping, resting with her head on her arm. 
 This was one of his richest performances, and was in 
 the exhibition of 1787, when Mr. Opie and myself 
 were the managers for arranging the pictures ; and 
 we found great difficulty in placing it, being so power- 
 ful in its effect that it seemed to annihilate every other 
 picture that was near it, and the conspicuous part of the 
 room that was before desirable was no longer so for any 
 picture when seen near his." 
 
 If an artist could begin his life over again, and re- 
 commence with new vigour the study of his profession 
 where the order of nature obliges him to relinquish it, 
 we might reasonably hope to draw nearer to perfection, 
 by the union of excellences hitherto uncombined in 
 the works of any single individual, than genius has 
 been destined to approach. But human talents has its 
 limits, and Reynolds now began to experience the 
 uncertainty of the tenure by which he possessed it. 
 In 1782, his friends were much alarmed by a paralytic 
 affection, which, after many years' enjoyment of excel- 
 lent health, attacked him at this period. It was but 
 slight, however, and all traces of it were completely 
 removed in the space of a few weeks. Still the effects 
 of long- continued application, and of a too close con- 
 finement to his painting room, were gradually under- 
 mining Sir Joshua's constitution, and generating slowly, 
 but surely, the disease which eventually proved fatal 
 to him. An enlargement of the liver began to display 
 itself in symptoms which, at first, did not appear to 
 be connected with it, and the disorder was daily gain- 
 ing ground. His general health was, however, appa- 
 rently good, and he felt as well as he looked. At 
 sixty-eight years of age he walked five miles on the 
 r 4 
 
248 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 road, in returning from a visit to Mr. Burke, in Buck- 
 inghamshire ; and we learn from Malone, who was 
 with him at the time, that he did not stop once in the 
 course of the walk, and that he did not complain of 
 the slightest uneasiness from the exertion, At this 
 time, his biographer remarks, he had the appearance 
 of a man not much beyond fifty, and seemed as likely 
 to live ten or fifteen years longer as any of his younger 
 acquaintance. 
 
 There are few men whose conduct through life has 
 been less calculated to provoke hostility than that of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, but they who stand high in 
 public estimation must be content to pay the penalty 
 incurred by celebrity, which envy or malice are ever 
 ready to inflict. "Among other attacks," says Mr. 
 Farington, "which Reynolds sustained, was a formal 
 effort made to show that he had no power of inven- 
 tion ; that he was a decided plagiarist ; and that his 
 designs for groups of figures and of attitudes were 
 stolen, as it was termed, from prints engraved from the 
 works of various masters ; and in the hope of lowering 
 the high reputation of this great man, an artist was so 
 illiberal as to undertake to prove this charge to the 
 public. Mr. Hone, one of the Academicians, who 
 painted portraits in oil, miniature, and crayons, painted 
 a large picture in which he introduced a grave person- 
 age, surrounded by various works of art, and holding 
 a wand with which he pointed to a number of scat- 
 tered prints, and under them slight indications of such 
 of Sir Joshua's pictures as in design most resembled 
 them. The title which he gave to this picture was — 
 The Conjuror. The principal figure in the compo- 
 sition was supposed to be a Wizard, who had discovered 
 by his skill in the black art these proofs of Sir Joshua's 
 plagiarism. Desirous that his satire should have its 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 249 
 
 full effect, the painter sent it to the Royal Academy 
 for exhibition, in 1775; but the Council "entrusted 
 with the arrangement of the pictures perceived his 
 illiberal intention, and of course rejected the perform- 
 ance. Disappointed here, he made an exhibition of 
 his own works only, in which The Conjuror occupied 
 a principal part; but this impotent attempt to lcwer 
 Sir Joshua in the public estimation, produced little or 
 no effect," and Reynolds himself treated the whole 
 affair with the most philosophic indifference and con- 
 tempt. 
 
 Towards the close of his career an occurrence took 
 place which he could not, however, pass over without 
 notice, and which he evidently felt very keenly. Ma- 
 lone informs us, often drawing a parallel between the 
 characters of Lselius and Reynolds, that "as Lselius, 
 admired and respected as he was, was repulsed from 
 the consulate, Sir Joshua was, for a short time, by an 
 unhappy misunderstanding, driven from the Presidency 
 of the Royal Academy." "In recording this unjust 
 accusation," says Farington, "against the members of 
 the Royal Academy, Mr. Malone, in the warmth of 
 his zeal for his friend, Sir Joshua, departed from his 
 usual prudence and fidelity of statement." But Ma- 
 lone, there is every reason to believe, had derived his 
 opinion on the subject from the statements of Sir 
 Joshua himself, and Reynolds was not capable of 
 stating a fact untruly, or liable to be influenced 
 strongly by matters of ordinary importance. 
 
 Northcote says, on this point, that the incident 
 alluded to has often been related by various writers, 
 according, in some measure, to the feelings which 
 they had in the business. " I shall endeavour," he 
 adds, "to state the whole affair as impartially as pos- 
 sible, but, according to my own conception of the 
 
250 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 business, which is very well told by an obscure author 
 in a pamphlet published at the time." 
 
 "In the year 1790, probably at the request of the 
 Earl of Aylesford, Sir Joshua possessed a very anxious 
 desire to procure the vacant professorship of perspec- 
 tive in the Academy for Mr. Bonomi, an Italian ar- 
 chitect ; and, as Mr. Bonomi had not yet been elected 
 an associate, and, of course, was not an academician, 
 it became necessary to raise him to those stations in 
 order to qualify him for becoming a professor. The 
 election proceeded, and Mr. Gilpin was a competitor 
 for the associateship with the Italian architect. The 
 numbers on the ballot proved equal ; and the President 
 gave the casting vote for his friend, Mr. Bonomi, who 
 was thereby advanced so far towards the professorship. 
 On the vacancy of an academic seat by the death of 
 Mr. Meyers, Sir Joshua Reynolds exerted all his in- 
 fluence to obtain it for Mr. Bonomi ; but a spirit of 
 resistance appeared, owing, I believe," continues 
 Northcote, " to some misconception, or to some in- 
 formality on the part of Sir Joshua, in producing some 
 drawings of Bonomi's, and Mr. Fuseli was elected an 
 academician by a majority of two to one. The Pre- 
 sident then quitted the chair with great dissatisfaction, 
 and on the following day, the 12th of February, Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, who, for twenty-one years, had filled 
 the chair of the Royal Academy with honour to him- 
 self and his country, sent his resignation to Mr. 
 Richards, the Secretary of the Academy." 
 
 Thus far the statement of the fact is correct ; but 
 there are circumstances attending it which have not 
 been hitherto explained, and which will lead us to 
 conclude that Sir Joshua's resignation was not ten- 
 dered in consequence of the result of the election 
 alone, but was considered necessary by the additional 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 251 
 
 circumstance of a decided personal affront offered to 
 himself by a member of the academy, and by the 
 evident preconcerted determination of opposing his 
 intention, which appears to have been manifested by a 
 considerable portion of the electors. 
 
 The drawings mentioned in the preceding extract 
 were intended as specimens of Mr. Bonomi's qualifica- 
 tions for the office of Professor of Perspective, and had 
 been received and hung up, by order of the council, 
 in the room where the election took place. When 
 this order had passed, Sir Joshua himself gave di- 
 rections that the drawings should be disposed of as 
 already stated; and as it was not considered an affair 
 of sufficient importance to need the previous sanction 
 of the general meeting, the members assembled for 
 the purpose of the election were not aware, with the 
 exception of the members of council, that any such 
 order had been voted. 
 
 As Mr. Bonomi was already an associate, and the 
 Academy were supposed, in consequence, to be ac- 
 quainted with his merits as an artist, it was not abso- 
 lutely necessary that he should produce any new spe- 
 cimen of his abilities on this occasion, and it appears 
 to have been unusual to do so. The members who 
 brought forward Bonomi's opponent took advantage 
 of the circumstance, and declared it to be irregular. 
 One of them, accordingly, demanded of the President 
 — by whose order the drawings had been produced? 
 Sir Joshua replied, that he had himself given the 
 order, and would probably have proceeded to state 
 that he had done so in consequence of the order of 
 council ; but the member alluded to, on hearing the 
 assertion, immediately got up and abruptly exclaimed, 
 — "Then, I move that the drawings be removed!" 
 He had friends enough present to carry his motion; 
 
252 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and on proceeding to the ballot, it was found that Mr. 
 Fuseli had the greatest proportion of votes, and he 
 was in consequence pronounced to be duly elected an 
 academician, to the exclusion of Mr. Bonomi. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, well aware from the result of 
 the election, and the conduct of the individual men- 
 tioned above, that the opposition to his wishes had 
 been preconcerted, now quitted the chair, and retired 
 from the meeting. The personal affront which he had 
 also received, may be supposed to have influenced him 
 in his view of the affair, and he accordingly sent in 
 his resignation. 
 
 From what we have been able to collect on the 
 subject, these appear to have been the grounds of Sir 
 Joshua's retirement, and not the mere circumstance 
 of the preference shown to Mr. Fuseli, and the ex- 
 clusion of Lord Aylesford's supposed protege. We 
 certainly think that more respect was due to a Pre- 
 sident, who had filled the chair of the Academy for so 
 many years with honour to himself and advantage to 
 the Institution : and, that more consideration might 
 reasonably have been expected towards so blameless 
 and so respectable an individual as Sir Joshua, had he 
 even been influenced by some feeling of partiality to- 
 wards the rejected member, and some wish to oblige 
 a nobleman of worth and distinction who interested 
 himself in his welfare.* 
 
 * For many years afterwards, the individual to whom we have 
 alluded made the Royal Academy the scene of contention ; and 
 his proceedings were, at one period, so highly irregular as to call 
 for the interference of royalty. But death has long since removed 
 him from the field of his exploits, and his latter years were passed 
 in respectable tranquillity, and in the enjoyment of social in- 
 tercourse with many of those with whom he had long been at 
 variance. 
 
 He was a man of considerable mental endowments, but his 
 celebrity as an artist would never have entitled him to rank very 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 253 
 
 At a meeting of the council which was held shortly 
 afterwards, the letter which contained Sir Joshua's 
 resignation formed the chief subject of debate. A 
 letter from Sir William Chambers to Sir Joshua was 
 also read, addressed to him in consequence of Sir 
 William's interview with the King, in an early stage 
 of the affair, and stating, among other nattering pas- 
 sages, expressive of the royal approbation, "that his 
 Majesty would be happy in Sir Joshua's continuing in 
 the President's chair." 
 
 Sir Joshua's letter to Sir William Chambers, in 
 reply, was to the following effect : — " That he inferred, 
 from the very gratifying manner in which the royal 
 pleasure had been declared, that his conduct must have 
 been hitherto satisfactory to his Majesty; and, if any 
 inducement could make him depart from his original 
 resolution, the will of his Sovereign would prevail: 
 but that, flattered by his Majesty's approval to the 
 last, there could be nothing that was not perfectly 
 honourable in his resignation ; and that, in addition 
 to this determination, as he could not consistently hold 
 the subordinate distinction of Royal Academician after 
 he had so long possessed the chair, he begged also to 
 relinquish that honour." 
 
 A general assembly of the Academicians was now 
 held, to confer on this unfortunate event. The regret 
 expressed by the members was general and sincere, 
 
 high in his profession •, and it is probable that his efforts to attain 
 superior authority in the management of the affairs of the royal 
 Academy were dictated by feelings of ambition alone. 
 
 Since his death the Academy has remained undisturbed by any 
 internal dissensions, occupied chiefly in the direction of theschools, 
 and engaged in no other contests with each other than those which 
 result from a noble emulation to rival or surpass their competitors 
 in art. 
 
254 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 and a vote passed unanimously, that " The thanks ot 
 the Royal Academy be given to Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 for the able and attentive manner in which he had sc. 
 many years discharged his duty as President of that 
 Society." But, as any endeavours on the part of the 
 Academy to alter Sir Joshua's determination appeared 
 now to be equally useless and improper, especially as 
 he had not acceded to the wish of the Sovereign, so 
 graciously expressed in the letter which had been read, 
 it was determined that a meeting should be shortly 
 called, to fill the vacancy which had thus unhappily 
 occurred. 
 
 The proposed meeting took place on the 13th of 
 March, and the Academy, still moved by an anxious 
 desire of conciliating then* late President, as far as 
 it was possible, consistent with the respect due to the 
 Institution, as well as to the members themselves as 
 individuals, agreed upon the following declaration : — 
 " Resolved, that, upon inquiry, it is the opinion of 
 this meeting, that the President acted in conformity 
 with the intention of the council in directing Mr. 
 Bonomi to send a drawing or drawings to the general 
 meeting, to evince his being qualified for the office of 
 professor of perspective ; but that, the general meet- 
 ing not having been informed of this new regulation 
 of the council, nor having consented to it, as the laws 
 of the Academy direct, the generality of the assembly 
 judged their introduction irregular, and consequently 
 voted for their being withdrawn." 
 
 This resolution was succeeded by another, which 
 was as follows : — " Resolved, that Sir Joshua Rey- 
 nolds's declared objection to his resuming the chair 
 being done away, a committee be appointed to wait 
 on Sir Joshua Reynolds, requesting him, that, in 
 obedience to the gracious desire of his Majesty, amd 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 255 
 
 in compliance with the wishes of the Academy, he would 
 withdraw his letter of resignation." It was then deter- 
 mined that these resolutions be communicated to Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds by the following members, — Messrs. 
 West, Copley, Farington, T. Sandby, Bacon, Cosway, 
 Catton, and the Secretary. 
 
 This committee accordingly waited upon Sir Joshua, 
 "who received them," observes Farington, "with evi- 
 dent marks of satisfaction." They read to him the re- 
 solution of the Academy, and stated to him their own 
 and the general wish of the members, that he would 
 reconsider his determination, and consent to resume 
 his situation as President of an Institution, of which 
 his talents had been so long an essential support. Sir 
 Joshua, in reply, expressed his gratitude for this 
 honourable proceeding towards him, and said, he 
 should with great pleasure accede to their wishes. 
 He then invited the committee to dine with him, that 
 day, in order to convince them that he returned to 
 his office with sentiments of the most cordial amity. 
 The committee reported the success of their mission 
 to the General Assembly, and announced, at the same 
 time, the agreeable intelligence that their President 
 would appear in his place the same evening. Sir 
 Joshua, accordingly, attended the meeting, and signified 
 his having withdrawn his letter of resignation, but 
 added, that he did not think himself authorised to re- 
 sume the chair, until he had obtained his Majesty's 
 leave." The King's gracious permission having been 
 received, Sir Joshua appeared in the President's chair 
 on the 16th March, 1790, and was received with every 
 possible demonstration of cordiality and respect by a 
 numerous assembly of the members. 
 
 Though the interval between Sir Joshua's resignation 
 of the Presidency and his return to that office was 
 
256 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 only twenty-two days, yet, in that short period, the 
 prompt zeal of his admirers to offer him their testi- 
 monies of respect and condolence was displayed in 
 many complimentary effusions, both in verse and prose. 
 The poetical lines of the Earl of Carlisle are anions the 
 best of these compositions, but the feeling of regret was 
 strong and general, whatever might have been the talent 
 evinced in the expression of it. 
 
 On the 10th December, in the same year, Sir Joshua 
 delivered his fifteenth and last Discourse, in which he 
 took leave of the Academy ; and, though he had not 
 actually made his final resignation at that period, yet 
 it is evident that he had it in contemplation, since he 
 observed that his age and infirmities made it probable 
 that this would be his last address ; and that, excluded, 
 as he was, from indulging his imagination in a distant 
 and forward perspective of life, he trusted that he 
 would be excused from turning his eyes back 01 the 
 way that he had passed. He then took an interesting 
 and instructive review of his professional career, and 
 detailed, with great modesty and perspicuity, the means 
 by which he rose to that high degree of eminence 
 which is now so universally admitted. On this inter- 
 esting occasion, Sir Joshua observed, that the intimate 
 connection which he had maintained with the Royal 
 Academy, ever since its establishment, and the social 
 duties in which he and its members had been mutually 
 engaged for so many years, rendered any profession 
 of attachment on his part altogether superfluous; as, 
 independent of other causes, such attachment irould 
 naturally have been produced, in such a connection, 
 by the influence of habit alone. He modestly hinted 
 at the little differences which had arisen, but expressed 
 his wish that such recollections should be lost among: 
 the members in mutual esteem for talents and accuire- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 257 
 
 ments, and that every controversy would be sunk in 
 general zeal for the perfection of that art which was 
 common to them all. In parting with the Academy, 
 he declared that he should remember with pride, 
 affection, and gratitude, the support with which he 
 had been uniformly honoured from the commence- 
 ment of the Institution ; and that he should leave it 
 with cordial wishes for its future concord, and with a 
 well founded hope, that in that concord the auspicious 
 origin of the Royal Academy might not be forgotten 
 in the splendour of succeeding prospects. After expatia- 
 ting on the exalted genius of his favourite master, he 
 concluded with the following impressive words ; — 
 
 " I feel a self- congratulation in knowing myself ca- 
 pable of such sensations as he intended to excite. I 
 reflect, not without vanity, that these Discourses bear 
 testimony of my admiration of that truly divine man ; 
 and I should desire that the last words which I should 
 pronounce in this Academy, and from this place, might 
 be the name of Michel Angelo !" 
 
 On hearing this discourse, a foreign artist of con- 
 siderable celebrity observed, that, if he had only heard 
 this final oration in praise of Michel Angelo, and seen 
 that great national ornament, Somerset House, he should 
 have been certain that the English were far advanced in 
 the highest departments of art. 
 
 So great was Sir Joshua's professed admiration for 
 this master, that his head was engraved on his seal, 
 and he introduced his bust in that portrait which he 
 painted of himself for the Royal Academy ; in his 
 portrait, now in the gallery at Florence, the name of 
 Michael Angelo is also conspicuous on the paper which 
 he holds in his hand. 
 
 "It was the opinion of Sir Joshua Reynolds," says 
 Northcote, "that Michel Angelo was superior to the 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
258 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ancients, as he once declared to me; and on my not 
 according with him in that opinion, I remember he 
 said, 'You have the strongest party in the argument, 
 because you have the world on your side.' But at this 
 time," continues his pupil and biographer, " I am 
 more inclined to think with him, at least thus far, that 
 in the works of Michel Angelo there always appears 
 to be an excellent sentiment produced ; but from the 
 antique nothing of that which he inspires. The an- 
 tique gives us, undoubtedly, a more perfect example 
 of just proportions, and of characters. I apprehend 
 the same qualities run through all their works of every 
 species : their dramas seem to be the works of men of 
 most powerful heads, and therefore the most proper 
 models for the schools, as in them nothing that is 
 wrong can be found, and we may therefore assist our 
 judgment by the help of their examples, as infallible 
 guides, which examples can be reduced to rules. But 
 the feelings of the heart admit of but little assistance 
 or improvement from fixed rules. Thus he who may 
 have settled his notions of perfection from the models 
 of the ancient dramas, and supposes that nothing can 
 surpass them in any quality whatever, must be struck 
 with astonishment and admiration when, for the first 
 time, he contemplates the pages of Shakspeare, where 
 such various sensations, subtle and refined, are de- 
 scribed. Yet Shakspeare cannot, like the ancients, be 
 admitted as a model for the schools, inasmuch as he 
 is irregular and licentious, and his excellences, like all 
 those of genius, cannot be taught. It must have been 
 in this view that Sir Joshua saw a superiority in 
 Michel Angelo over the antique." 
 
 We may observe, with reference to part of this cri- 
 tique, that the performances of Michel Angelo are 
 not, in the originals, deficient in point of proportion: 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 259 
 
 although the prints, and more especially the early en- 
 gravings from his works, are greatly overcharged and 
 exaggerated. In character, he appears to have usually 
 taken a highly poetical view of nature, and is more 
 conspicuous for energy and sentiment than for sim- 
 plicity and chasteness of expression. In his exquisite 
 personifications of Adam and Eve we find, however, 
 the most heautiful examples of simplicity ; and when 
 his subject did not appear to require more than ordi- 
 nary vigour, Michel Angelo was fully capable of reining 
 his enthusiasm, and tempering the exuberance of genius 
 with truth. 
 
 Sir Joshua's admiration of the works of Michel An- 
 gelo has often been considered as affected ; and the 
 ordinary observer will be at a loss to imagine how they 
 could have operated upon the style of a portrait 
 painter. We have endeavoured to show, in other parts 
 of this memoir, how far the works alluded to, as well 
 as those of Raphael, may he studied with advantage 
 by those who are not entitled to rank as historical 
 painters ; and must repeat, that we are convinced Sir 
 Joshua was sincere in the expression of his feeling with 
 respect to these masters. We are also convinced that 
 he profited greatly by the study of their noble pro- 
 ductions, and that the influence of the principles by 
 which they rose to excellence may be evidently traced 
 in the difference of his style from that of his immediate 
 predecessors, as well as in the difference of his early 
 manner from that which he adopted at subsequent pe- 
 riods. He had been taught by Michel Angelo and 
 Raphael to appreciate the dignity of art, to look at 
 nature with the eye of a poet, and to elevate the sub- 
 jects of his pencil by combining intellectual beauty 
 with the truth of individual representation. The style 
 of portraiture of which Sir Joshua may be said to have 
 
260 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 been the author is more indebted to the mind of the 
 painter for its excellence than it is to the truth of h ; s 
 eye or the mechanical dexterity of his hand ; and we 
 may fairly assume that the study of the principles 
 which formed the style of Michel Angelo and Raphael 
 materially contributed to enlrage the views of art 
 which Reynolds had originally taken, and to suggest 
 the views of nature which he afterwards adopted when 
 the treasures of the Vatican had shown him his de- 
 ficiency. 
 
 Though now contemplating a secession from public 
 life, Sir Joshua's love for his art, and his zeal for its 
 advancement, still continued to operate as strongly 
 as ever. He had amassed a large collection of valuable 
 pictures, and a highly interesting collection of drawings 
 and prints, which he liberally offered, as we have al- 
 ready stated, to the members of the Royal Academy, 
 at a sum far below their acknowledged value. As cir- 
 cumstances prevented the Academy from availing 
 themselves of this offer, Sir Joshua determined to make 
 a temporary exhibition of them, and with this view he 
 hired an apartment in the Haymarket, which had for- 
 merly been occupied by Ford the auctioneer. The 
 price of admission was fixed at one shilling; and as 
 the profits arising from the exhibition were -generously 
 given to his old servant Ralph Kirkley, the catalogue 
 bore the title of " Ralph's Exhibition." It was written 
 by Sir Joshua himself, and he employed his time in 
 composing and arranging it, when he could no longer 
 follow his profession. 
 
 In July, 1789, when he had nearly finished the por- 
 trait of Lady Beauchamp, "the last female portrait," 
 says Malone, "That he ever painted, he, for the first 
 time, perceived his sight so much affected, that he found 
 it difficult to proceed ; and, in a few months afterwards, 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 261 
 
 in spite of the aid of the most skilful occulists, he was 
 entirely deprived of the sight of his left eye. After 
 some struggles, lest his remaining eye should he also 
 affected, he determined to paint no more, a resolution 
 which, to him, was a very serious misfortune, since he 
 was thus deprived of an employment that afforded him 
 constant amusement, and which he loved more for its 
 own sake than on account of the great emolument 
 with which the practice of his art was attended. Still, 
 however, he retained his usual spirits ; was amused by 
 reading, or hearing others read to him, and partook 
 of the society of his friends with the same pleasure as 
 formerly.* 
 
 " In October, 1791, having strong apprehensions 
 that a tumour, accompanied by inflammation, which 
 took place above the eye that had perished, might 
 iiffect the other also, Sir Joshua became somewhat de- 
 jected. Every means were employed to disperse it 
 without effect, and it was afterwards found to have 
 been occasioned by extravasated blood, and to have had 
 no connection with the optic nerve. Meantime he la 
 boured under a much more dangerous disease, which 
 deprived him both of his wonted spirits and appetite, 
 though he was wholly unable to explain to his physi- 
 cians the nature or seat of his disorder. During 
 this period of great affliction to all his friends, his ma- 
 lady was by many supposed to be imaginary ; and it 
 was conceived that if he would but exert himself he 
 could shake it off. This instance, however," continues 
 Malone, " may serve to show that the patient best 
 
 * The last two portraits of gentlemen that Sir Joshua painted 
 were those of the Right Hon. William Windham and George J. 
 Cholmondeley, Esq. He afterwards attempted to finish the por- 
 trait of Lord Macartney, for which that nobleman had sat some 
 time before, but he found himself unable to proceed. 
 
 s 3 
 
262 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 knows what he suffers, and that few long complain of 
 bodily ailments without an adequate cause ; for at 
 length, as we have stated, hut not till about a fortnight 
 before his death, the seat of his disease was found to 
 be in his liver, of which the inordinate growth, as it af- 
 terwards appeared, had incommoded all the functions of 
 life : and of this disease, which he bore with the great- 
 est fortitude and patience, he died, after a confinement 
 of nearlv three months, at his house in Leicester 
 Square, on Thursday evening, February 23, 1792, in 
 the 69th year of his age.* 
 
 "Reynolds seemed, from the beginning of his ill- 
 ness, to have had a presentiment of the fatal termin- 
 ation with which it was finally attended ; and therefore 
 considered all those symptoms as delusive, on which 
 the ardent wishes of his friends led them to found a 
 hope of his recovery. He, however, continued to use 
 all the means of restoration proposed by his physicians, 
 and for some time to converse daily with his inti- 
 mate acquaintance ; and when, at length, he was 
 obliged to confine himself to his bed, awaited the hour 
 of his dissolution, as was observed by one of his friends 
 soon after his death, with an equanimity rarely shown 
 by the most celebrated Christian philosophers." 
 
 " During the course of Sir Joshua's active life," 
 says Northcote, "he had passed his days in a state 
 of professional honour and social enjoyment that has 
 scarcely been equalled, and never surpassed, by any of 
 his predecessors in art. He had been blessed also with 
 an excellent constitution by nature. Of these ad- 
 vantages he was very sensible ; and I well remember, a 
 
 * On his body being opened, his liver, which ought to have 
 weighed about five pounds, was found to have increased to an 
 extraordinary size, weighing nearly eleven pounds. It was also 
 somewhat scirrhous. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 263 
 
 remark he once made to me on the subject : — ' I have 
 been very fortunate,' he said, ' in an uninterrupted 
 share of good health and success, for thirty years of 
 my life ; therefore, whatever ills may attend on the 
 remainder of my days, I shall have no right to com- 
 plain.' 
 
 "When a friend attempted to give him comfort in 
 the hope of returning health, he calmly answered, ' I 
 know that all things on earth must have an end, and 
 now I am come to mine.' 
 
 " The mental sufferings of Sir Joshua, under the 
 failure of his sight, were, perhaps," continues North- 
 cote, " much greater than he was willing to acknow- 
 ledge ; and he who, during his former life, had been 
 perpetually and earnestly employed in works destined 
 to delight the world, and add, in part, to the immor- 
 tality even of the illustrious, when represented as he 
 could represent them, being now prevented, by the in- 
 firmities of human nature, from occupying himself in 
 those studies which had raised his name so high, was 
 reduced to fill up the tedious, lingering hours, by 
 such humble amusements as could afford any consolation 
 in a state so new to him. Part of his attention was be- 
 stowed upon a little tame bird, which, like the favourite 
 spider of the prisoner in the Bastile, served to pass 
 away a lonely hour. But this proved, also, a fleeting 
 pleasure ; for on a summer's morning, the window of 
 the chamber being by accident left open, the little 
 favourite took to flight, and was irrecoverably lost, al- 
 though its master wandered for hours in the square 
 before the house, in the fruitless hope of reclaiming it. 
 
 " His inability to pursue his profession did not, how- 
 ever, sour his mind against the increasing fame of his 
 contemporaries ; and such was his opinion with respect 
 to the progress which the arts had then made in Eng- 
 s 4 
 
264 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 land, and, as he imagined, were still making towards 
 perfection, that in conversation with me once," North- 
 cote still proceeds to observe, " he ventured to predict, 
 that the arts would so improve in this country, and in 
 future years arrive to such a state of excellence, that 
 ' all we can now achieve,' he said, ' will appear like 
 children's work, in comparison with what will be done.' 
 
 " Whether portrait painting will ever be carried much 
 farther than Sir Joshua has carried it, I have mv 
 doubts; but in respect to the arts in general, I think 
 our countrymen fully qualified to verify his prediction. 
 It is my firm opinion, that had there been the same 
 encouragement and opportunity offered to the arts in 
 this country as have been afforded to them in Italv and 
 France, we should have seen how British powers and 
 talents would have burst forth, and also that laudable 
 ambition, that activity and spirit of enterprise, that 
 good sense and sound judgment, that originality and 
 strength of character, which so particularly mark the 
 people of this empire, that freedom of thinking for 
 themselves, which prevents the servile imitation of 
 each other, so constantly found in most countries, 
 especially in France, — when these are all considered, 
 how much more than probable is it, that we should 
 have seen such works of excellence and variety pro- 
 duced, as no age or country have ever seen equalled." 
 
 We think the honest enthusiasm of Sir Joshua's best 
 pupil is not without reasonable foundation. If en- 
 couragement had not been wanting, the arts of this 
 country would have now stood much higher than they 
 do ; and it is by encouragement alone that we can 
 hope to see them make farther progress. The means 
 of study now afforded to artists are greater than they 
 have ever been in England: and the merit displayed 
 in almost every department holds out a bright prospect 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 265 
 
 of excellence. A liberal, judicious, and steady support, 
 is all that is wanting to realise the expectation which 
 the talent of the country has raised i if that expect- 
 ation should eventually fail to be realised, the unhappy 
 result cannot fairly be attributed either to the state of 
 the art or to the want of capacity in the artist ; it will 
 be, clearly, to those who should have fostered them 
 by timely encouragement, that the blame and the re- 
 sponsibility of the failure must attach. 
 
 Sir Joshua had appointed, as executors, his friends, 
 Messrs. Burke, Metcalfe, and Malone ; and soon after 
 his decease, the following propositions, respecting the 
 funeral arrangements, were made by these gentlemen 
 to the Royal Academy : — 
 
 " That it is the wish of the executors of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, that the body be conveyed to the Royal 
 Academy on the evening before the interment, and 
 that the friends who attend him may be admitted to 
 proceed from thence. 
 
 " They leave to the Royal Academy to consider of 
 the propriety of inviting such persons of distinction as 
 used to attend their annual meetings, such as mi- 
 nisters of state, foreign ministers, presidents of soci- 
 eties, &c. &c., as they think proper. 
 
 " Sir Joshua's undertaker to wait on Sir William 
 Chambers to receive the instructions of the council 
 for the provision of coaches for the Academy, cloaks, 
 &c. &c." 
 
 These proposals were instantly agreed to by the 
 council of the Royal Academy ; but Sir William 
 Chambers, who had been appointed by the King sur- 
 veyor of the buildings at Somerset House, felt himself 
 obliged to withhold his consent, till his Majesty's 
 pleasure on the subject should be known. He was 
 bound by the duties of his office not to permit the 
 
266 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 building to be used for any otber purposes than those 
 which are specified in the grant, which runs thus : — 
 "That the Academy cannot let or lend any part 
 thereof for any other purpose than that to which it is 
 appropriated." — " It therefore appears," said Sir Wil- 
 liam Chambers, " that however desirous we may be 
 to show such a mark of respect to our late President, 
 we are not in possession of the power." 
 
 Mr. West then undertook to state to the King all 
 the circumstances respecting the application of the 
 executors, and in communicating the result to the 
 general assembly informed them, that his Majesty 
 had signified his pleasure that the wish of the exe- 
 cutors be complied with. Having thus obtained the 
 royal sanction, a deputation of members immediately 
 waited on the executors, and it was agreed that the 
 body should be removed to the Academy ; that one of 
 the apartments should be hung with black, and other- 
 wise prepared to receive it in the customary form, and 
 also that the order of procession should be settled in 
 conformity with the advice of the Herald's office. 
 
 It was determined that the general body of the 
 members of the Royal Academy, the academicians, 
 associates, and the honorary officers, should follow 
 the remains of their illustrious President immediately 
 after the pall-bearers, his own family, and the exe- 
 cutors. 
 
 In compliance with the resolution adopted, the body 
 was conveyed to the Royal Academy on the evening 
 of March 2. 1792; and the parties appointed to 
 attend the funeral assembled at Somerset House at 
 half-past ten on the following morning. 
 
 At nine o'clock, on the day of interment, peace 
 officers were placed at the corner of each street lead- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 267 
 
 ing to the Strand, Fleet Street, or Ludgate HiU, in 
 order to prevent carriages from passing by either of 
 those approaches during the course of the mornirg : 
 all carriages from the west end of the town, which 
 were going into the city, passed along Holborn and 
 Newgate Street. 
 
 From ten o'clock all the shops between Somerset 
 House and St. Paul's, where the remains of Sir Joshua 
 are interred, were shut up, and the whole space be- 
 tween Temple Bar was crowded with innumerable 
 persons waiting to see the funeral obsequies : from 
 that hour, till twelve, the streets were filled with the 
 mourning coaches coming to Somerset House, and 
 with the carriages of the nobility and gentry who 
 were invited to attend the mournful ceremony. At a 
 quarter past twelve the coffin was put into the hearse. 
 The company were conveyed in forty-two mourning 
 coaches, and forty-nine carriages, belonging to the 
 noblemen and gentlemen who attended, followed in 
 the train. The pall was home by three dukes, two 
 marquisses, and five other noblemen. 
 
 At half-past twelve the procession began to move ; 
 and the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs honoured the cere- 
 monv by coming to Somerset Place, where an officer's 
 guard of thirty men was placed at the great court 
 gate. After the procession had passed through Temple 
 Bar, the gates were shut, by order of the Lord Mayor, 
 to prevent any interruption from the passing of car- 
 riages, to or from the city, by that avenue. 
 
 The crowd of spectators was immense, as well in 
 the church as in the streets. The shops, as we have 
 mentioned, were closed, the windows of the houses 
 were filled, and the people, of every condition, as- 
 sembled to witness the order of the funeral, seemed to 
 
263 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 share in the general sorrow, and looked on in silence, 
 with awful respect.* 
 
 The procession returned to the Royal Academy in 
 nearly the same order as that in which it set out, and 
 the last carriage reached Somerset House at half an 
 hour past four. It was not till then that the gates of 
 Temple Bar were thrown open for the admission of 
 the public. 
 
 When the academicians and the rest of the com- 
 pany who returned had assembled, Mr. Burke entered 
 the room ; and, in the name of the family and exe- 
 cutors, expressed his thanks for their respectful hom- 
 age to the deceased, but was prevented by his feelings 
 from saying more than a few words, — he burst into 
 tears and departed. t 
 
 The humble and dutiful thanks of the Academy 
 were afterwards offered to his Majesty, for his gracious 
 permission to effect their ardent wishes, in doing ho- 
 nour to their late President, and "for enabling them, 
 by a splendid concurrence with the efforts of Sir 
 Joshua's executors, to gratify the wishes of the public." 
 The address was presented to the King by Mr. West. 
 An address of thanks was also voted to the Lord 
 Mayor and Sheriffs, for their considerate and highly 
 flattering attention. Finally, it was resolved that the 
 members of the Academy should continue to wear 
 mourning for the space of one month. 
 
 * A more detailed account of the funeral ceremony will be 
 found at the end of the life. It was written by a friend, the day 
 after the funeral, and published in several of the newspapers. 
 
 f To each of the gentlemen who attended on this occasion was 
 presented a print engraved by Bartolozzi, representing a female 
 clasping an urn, accompanied by the Genius of Painting, holding 
 in one hand an extinguished torch, and pointing with the other to 
 a sarcophagus, on the tablet of which was written. — 
 
 " Succedet fama, vivusque per ora feretur." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 
 
 269 
 
 " Thus were deposited," observes Mr. Farington. 
 "the venerable relics of Sir Joshua Reynolds, doubly 
 hallowed by a nation's respect and by the tears of 
 private friendship. The manifestation of the general 
 wish to do honour to his memory has been fully 
 shown. The assemblage of so many persons of the 
 highest rank, and of those who were most esteemed 
 for their talents, and reverenced for their virtues, 
 uniting to pay their respectful homage to departed 
 excellence, may, with grateful feelings, be recorded as * 
 a lasting proof of the high esteem in which he was 
 held by the most refined classes of society; and the 
 decorum of the public on the solemn occasion was not 
 less honourable to the deceased than to the state of 
 popular feeling. 
 
 " The mortal remains of Sir Joshua Reynolds hav- 
 ing been laid in their place of rest, the void which his 
 departure suddenly caused in a very large circle of 
 friends and admirers seemed, at first, to be an irre- 
 parable calamity; the deep regret, therefore, for the 
 loss of an artist whose works had so long been a source 
 of delight, and whose character was so pure and re- 
 fined as to be a pattern to society, naturally occasions 
 many expressions of the common feeling to issue from 
 the press, which appeared either in the daily journals, 
 or other channels of public communication." They are 
 remarkable, not so much on " account of any literary- 
 or critical merit which they possess, as for the expres- 
 sion of that sentiment which generally prevailed in the 
 metropolis and country on the recent misfortune." The 
 affectionate eulogium of Mr. Burke has been often before 
 the public ; but it should always have a place in the life 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and we feel that we cannot dis- 
 pense with it : — 
 
 " His illness was long, but borne with a mild and 
 
270 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cheerful fortitude, without the least mixture of any thing 
 irritable or querulous, agreeably to the placid and even 
 tenor of his whole life. He had from the beginning of 
 his malady a distinct view of his dissolution ; and he 
 contemplated it with that entire composure, which 
 nothing but the innocence, integrity, and usefulness of 
 his life, and an unaffected submission to the will of 
 Providence, could bestow. In this situation he had every 
 consolation from family tenderness, which his own kind- 
 ness had, indeed, well deserved. 
 
 " Sir Joshua Reynolds was, on very many accounts, 
 one of the most memorable men of his time. He was 
 the first Englishman who added the praise of the ele- 
 gant arts to the other glories of his country. In taste, 
 in grace, in facility, in happy invention, and in the 
 richness and harmony of colouring, he was equal to 
 the great masters of the renowned ages. In portrait 
 lie went beyond them; for he communicated to that 
 description of the art, in which English artists are the 
 most engaged, a variety, a fancy, and a dignity derived 
 from the higher branches, which even those who pro- 
 fessed them in a superior manner did not always 
 preserve, when they delineated individual nature. His 
 portraits remind the spectator of the invention of his- 
 tory, and the amenity of landscape. In painting por- 
 traits, he appeared not to be raised upon that platform, 
 but to descend to it from a higher sphere. His paint- 
 ing's illustrate his lessons, and his lessons seem to be 
 derived from his paintings. 
 
 " He possessed the theory as perfectly as the prac- 
 tice of his art. To be such a painter, he was a profound 
 and penetrating philosopher. 
 
 " In full affluence of foreign and domestic fame, 
 admired by the expert in art, and by the learned in 
 science, courted by the great, caressed by sovereign 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 271 
 
 powers, and celebrated by distinguished poets, his 
 native humility, modesty, and candour never forsook 
 him, even on surprise or provocation ; nor was the 
 least degree of arrogance or assumption visible to the 
 most scrutinising eye in any part of his conduct or 
 discourse. 
 
 " His talents of every kind, powerful from nature, 
 and not meanly cultivated by letters, his social virtues 
 in all the relations and all the habitudes of life, ren- 
 dered him the centre of a very great and unparalleled 
 variety of agreeable societies, which will be dissipated 
 by his death. He had too much merit not to excite 
 some jealousy, too much innocence to provoke any 
 enmity. The loss of no man of his time can be felt with 
 more sincere, general, and unmixed sorrow. 
 
 " HAIL ! AND FAREWELL !" 
 
 By his last will, which was made on the 5th of No- 
 vember preceding his death, Sir Joshua left the greater 
 part of his fortune to -his niece, Miss Palmer, afterwards 
 Marchioness of Thomond ; ten thousand pounds in the 
 funds to her younger sister, Mrs. Gwatkin, the wife of 
 Robert Lovel Gwatkin, Esq. of Killow, in the county of 
 Cornwall ; a considerable legacy to his friend the Right 
 Hon. Edmund Burke, with whom he had lived in great 
 intimacy for more than thirty years ; and various 
 memorials to other friends, of which we subjoin an 
 account.* 
 
 * " To the Earl of Upper Ossory, any picture of his own paint- 
 ing, remaining undisposed of at his death, that his Lordship 
 should choose. 
 
 " To Lord Palmerston, 'the second choice.' 
 
 " To Sir Abraham Hume, Bart., * the choice of his Claude 
 Lorraines. 
 
 " To Sir George Beaumont, Bart., his ' Sebastian Bourdon,— 
 the Return of the Arc' 
 
272 
 
 MKMOIR OF 
 
 " In his stature, Sir Joshua Reynold's was rather 
 under the middle size. He was in height nearly five 
 feet six inches, of a florid complexion, roundish, blunt 
 features, and a lively, pleasing aspect; not corpulent, 
 though somewhat inclined to it, but extremely active. 
 With manners highly polished and agreeable, he pos- 
 sessed an uncommon flow of spirits, but always under 
 the strictest regulation, which rendered him, at all 
 times, a most pleasing and desirable companion. Such 
 was the undeviating propriety of his deportment, that 
 wherever he appeared, he invariably, by his example, 
 gave a tone of decorum to the society. With a car- 
 riage the most unassuming, he always commanded 
 that personal respect which was shown him on all oc- 
 casions. No man was more fitted for the seat of 
 authority. When acting in a public capacity, he united 
 
 " To the Duke of Portland, ' the Angel Contemplation— the 
 upper part of the Nativity.' 
 
 " To Edmoud Malone, Philip Metcalle, James Boswell, Esqs., 
 and Sir William Scott (now Judge of the Court of Admiralty), 
 200/. each, to be laid out, if they should think proper, in the pur- 
 chase of some picture at the sale of his collection, ' to be kept 
 for his sake.' . , 
 
 " To the Reverend William Mason, ' the Miniature of Milton 
 by Cooper.' 
 
 " To Richard Burke, jun., Esq., his 4 Cromwell,' by Cooper 
 " To Mrs. Bunbury, ' her son's picture and to Mrs. Gwyn, 
 ' her own picture with a turban.' 
 
 " To his nephew, William Johnston, Esq, of Calcutta, his 
 
 W "To his old servant, Ralph Kirkley (who had lived with him 
 twenty-nine years), 1000/. . . 
 
 " Of this will, he appointed Mr. Burke, Mr. Metcalfe, and the 
 present writer, executors. 
 
 "In March, 1795, his fine collection of pictures by the ancient 
 masters was sold by auction for 10,319/. 2s. 6d. ; and in April, 
 1796, various historical and fancy pieces of his own painting, to- 
 gether with some unclaimed portraits, were sold for 450o/. 18s. 
 His very valuable collection of drawings and prints has been since 
 disposed of." 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 273 
 
 dignity with ease ; in private society he was ever ready 
 to be amused, and to contribute to the amusement of 
 others; and was always attentive to receive inform- 
 ation on every subject that presented itself; and by 
 the aid of an ear-trumpet he was enabled to partake of 
 the conversation of his friends with great facility and 
 convenience. He was very observant of character ; but 
 if he made remarks upon singularity or vanity, it was 
 with playful delicacy. On dispositions of a more offen- 
 sive kind he seldom expressed his feelings, but guarded 
 himself against obtrusive advances by gently shifting 
 his attention to some other object. He was very easv 
 of access, and the young artists who were desirous to 
 benefit by his advice found no difficulty in obtaining 
 it; it was always given frankly and kindly, with great 
 sincerity, but with as much encouragement as truth 
 would allow. 
 
 "If it were asked, how Sir Joshua appeared to 
 stand in his own opinion of himself, the answer would 
 be, that he was an exemplary instance of modestv. 
 To the compliments which he received he listened and 
 bowed, but it was rather as one submitting to the re- 
 marks that were made, by which he might profit, than 
 the complacency of self-approbation. He never justi- 
 fied the encomiums of admiring spectators of his works, 
 by reasoning upon them. Having performed what he 
 undertook to do, he left others to judge of the quality 
 of his productions. He would occasionally notice 
 some difficulty he had found in executing a work, to 
 account for some questionable appearance, or to show 
 the necessity of sometimes trespassing a little upon 
 truth, in order to satisfy the eye ; but such remarks 
 were only made to artists, and were always accom- 
 panied with a caution against the practice, except 
 where indispensably necessary. In painting, as in 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 music, deviations from strict rules are occasionally 
 required ; and to justify these, the artist can only refer 
 to feelings which to him supply the place of laws. It 
 is recorded in a late publication, that when Haydn, the 
 celebrated musical composer, was requested to give his 
 reasons for certain unusual transitions or modulations 
 in his work, he merely answered, ' I did it because it 
 was best so.' 
 
 " In professional application, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 as before stated, was an extraordinary example of per- 
 severing industry. It has been justly observed, that 
 ' he was never wearied into despondency by miscar- 
 riage, nor elated into neglect by success.' His art was 
 always in his mind, and, as it was truly said, ' when 
 the man went abroad, he did not leave the painter at 
 home.' All nature and all art was his academy ; and 
 his mind was constantly awake, ever on the wing, com- 
 prehensive, vigorous, discriminating, and retentive. 
 With taste to perceive all the varieties of the pic- 
 turesque, judgment to select, and skill to combine 
 what would serve his purpose, few have ever been em- 
 powered by nature to do more from the funds of his 
 own genius ; and none ever endeavoured more to take 
 advantage of the labours of others, in making a splendid 
 and useful collection, for which no expense was spared : 
 his house was filled to the remotest corners with casts 
 from the antique, pictures, statues, drawings, and 
 prints, by the various masters of all the different 
 schools and nations. Those he looked upon as his 
 library ; with this advantage, that they decorated at the 
 same time that they instructed. They claimed his 
 constant attention ; objects, at once, of amusement, of 
 study, and of competition. 
 
 " In portrait painting, the general demands upon 
 composition are limited; and as its rules may be ap- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 275 
 
 plied with a degree of laxity, it affords the artist but 
 comparatively little exercise to prepare him for higher 
 exertions : the painter, therefore, of extensive practice 
 in that department, whatever may be his natural ta- 
 lents, must, in respect to original composition, be liable 
 to those dangers of inactivity so judiciously pointed 
 out in the Discourses of the President himself. This, 
 in fact, was precisely his own situation. He was not 
 called upon by the regular habits of his practice for 
 any extensive exercise of his creative powers, and conse- 
 quently he was not ready and expert either in inventing 
 or combining the requisite materials of historical art, 
 whenever he ventured upon that department. This 
 was, doubtless, the cause that he did not sufficiently 
 exert the independence of his own genius, and that he 
 consented, perhaps too easily, to accept assistance from 
 the conceptions of others ; but to the hints he thus 
 occasionally borrowed, it must be acknowledged that 
 he always gave such an air of novelty, and applied 
 them to his own purposes with such admirable skill 
 that they often acquired a value they did not before 
 possess ; and his compilations had almost as much ori- 
 ginality as if nature and the resources of his own mind 
 had supplied every part. 
 
 " Yet this deficiency must have been the source of 
 innumerable difficulties and impediments in every large 
 work, and no doubt deterred him from many a lofty 
 undertaking to which an active imagination would be 
 continually inviting him. But though he could not 
 attempt to rival Michel Angelo and RafFaelle in their 
 elevated line of art," he was able to apply the principles 
 by which they were regulated to his own peculiar de- 
 partment ; " and from what he has accomplished in 
 this way, he will be ranked with the most distin- 
 guished geniuses who have adorned the profession. The 
 t 2 
 
276 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 world, in truth, scarcely knew the fascinations of co- 
 lour, in its most impressive combinations with light and 
 shade, till the works of Reynolds had been seen. Even 
 to historical subjects, in many instances, he gave a 
 charm that was before unknown. His Ugolino is an 
 eminent example of pathos and force of expression, to 
 which his excellent management of colour, and light 
 and shade, greatly contributed. His picture of the 
 ' Nativity' had all the splendour and harmony that 
 colour could give; but these qualities were applied to 
 that grave, but simple, subject with so much judgment 
 and feeling, that the whole appeared a scene of holy 
 mystery ; nor could the imagination have been more 
 powerfully affected if the same scene had been illus- 
 trated by the forms of Michel Angelo and Raffaelle. 
 
 " From the fortuitous nature of his practice, the 
 works of Sir Joshua were liable to inequality. Pro- 
 ceeding without those guides which alone could secure 
 to him the full result of the great powers which nature 
 had given him, and never contented to repeat what he 
 had happily done before, every picture was an experi- 
 ment on some project of improvement suggested by 
 his incessant endeavours to reach something yet un- 
 attained either by himself or others. 
 
 " The great practice and indefatigable industry of 
 Sir Joshua gave him an extraordinary facility of exe- 
 cution. His pencil was never mannered, but free, 
 easy, and varied. His touch gave life and character ; 
 it had something magical in it : expressing the form 
 intended without the least appearance of labour, and 
 leaving no marks of a mechanical process ; so that, in 
 copying his pictures, it is difficult to trace either the 
 mode of producing them or the stages of his progress. 
 
 "Though the style of Sir Joshua was necessarily 
 ornamental, there was nothing in it that should war- 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 277 
 
 rant the assertion, that he was naturally incapable 
 of a more elevated practice. His compositions are 
 animated and sensible; and they, moreover, evince a 
 strong perception of beauty, dignity, and grace ; from 
 these elements, it seems probable that the grandest 
 style might, with due cultivation, have been produced ; 
 but certainly, the grandeur of Reynolds would have 
 corresponded with the simplicity of his mind, which 
 was devoted to nature and truth, and would have had 
 nothing of that inflated character, which is too often 
 seen in vain attempts at sublimity."* 
 
 When the greater part of those who were tne friends 
 and admirers of Reynolds had passed away from the 
 scene of his renown, and other painters of eminence 
 had risen high in public favour, and called the public 
 attention to their successful exertions, the fame of Sir 
 Joshua enjoyed a temporary repose. His name, in- 
 deed, was never mentioned without veneration, and 
 sons had learned from their fathers to pronounce it 
 with respect ; but his works were dispersed in many 
 private collections, and the present generation had no 
 sufficient data by which they could appreciate the ex- 
 tent of his powers. 
 
 A few years after the establishment of the British 
 Institution, an establishment as honourable to its ori- 
 ginal projectors as it has been advantageous to the arts 
 of the country, it occurred to the directors, that if an 
 exhibition could be formed, which should consist en- 
 tirely of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the ac- 
 complishment of such a measure would be, in every 
 way, desirable. " A display of this nature, they con- 
 ceived, would be a high gratification to the public, 
 and equally delightful and advantageous to artists. 
 
 * Farington's Memoirs- 
 
 T 3 
 
278 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Great exertions were accordingly made to procure 
 the finest examples of his productions that could he 
 obtained, and the several proprietors of Sir Joshua's 
 pictures complied most liberally with the wishes of 
 the directors. 
 
 " The number of pictures exhibited amounted to 
 142, and when the arrangement was completed, the 
 exhibition was preceded by a grand commemoration 
 dinner, which took place on Saturday, May 8. 1813. 
 The Prince Regent (who was then President of the 
 Institution) had announced his intention of honouring 
 the dinner with his presence. His Royal Highness 
 arrived at the British Gallery at five o'clock to view 
 the exhibition, and he was graciously pleased to 
 express the highest admiration, both of the pictures 
 and their arrangement. A short time before seven, 
 the Regent was conducted from the Gallery by the 
 Marquis of Stafford, through a temporary covered 
 way, to Willis's Rooms. The Prince Regent sat as 
 president of the British Institution, having a bust of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds placed behind him. The Mar- 
 quis of Stafford sat on the left hand of the Prince 
 Regent, and, as Deputy President, he officiated, giving 
 the toasts, &c. 
 
 " His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland's 
 band was stationed in an adjoining room, and performed 
 several select and appropriate pieces during and after 
 dinner. To ' the memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds,' 
 was a toast drank with enthusiasm and feeling. 
 
 " About half-past nine the Prince Regent left the 
 dining-room, and was reconducted by the Marquis 
 of Stafford to the Gallery, which was lighted up on the 
 occasion. The brilliancy and rich harmonious colour- 
 ing of Sir Joshua's pictures, which sparkled on the 
 walls ; the elegant assemblage of animated beauty who 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 279 
 
 graced the evening show ; the great number of the 
 nobility, statesmen, and other distinguished persons of 
 rank, consequence, and intellectual attainments, that 
 were assembled with their Prince, to be delighted, and 
 to honour the memory of the illustrious dead, gave the 
 whole a most fascinating and grand effect. It was, • in- 
 deed, ' the feast of reason, and the flow of soul.' 
 
 " Sir Joshua Reynolds had been dead more than 
 twenty years, and almost a new generation had risen 
 up, whose taste had been formed upon works that had 
 been exhibited to the public since his time. The 
 majority of spectators were but imperfectly acquainted 
 with his works, and such an accumulation of splendid 
 art had been seen by non e ; it is now wonderful, there- 
 fore, that this magnificent display should have operated 
 so powerfully. The public prints became the vehicle 
 of declamatory and critical praise, of which some idea 
 may be formed by the specimens here quoted. The 
 following observations were published soon after the 
 Exhibition was opened : — 
 
 " 'Morning Post, May 13. 1813. 
 
 " ' The British Institution. Collection of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds's Paintings. 
 
 " ' Yesterday will long remain memorable in the an- 
 nals of the British arts, from its opening to the view 
 of the public the paintings of the brightest ornament 
 of our national school, liberally contributed by the va- 
 rious possessors, to be exhibited in honour of his me- 
 mory, and for the benefit of the fine arts in general. 
 Never before, we will venture to say, in this, or in any 
 other nation, was so proud a monument reared by one 
 man, as is here erected to the honour and character 
 of his country, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The diction- 
 x 4 
 
280 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 ary of praise would be exhausted before we could ex- 
 press the pleasure we experienced in viewing this 
 noble collection. We have seen, and seen with 
 wonder, many splendid galleries, containing selections 
 from all the great masters, 
 
 ' From grave to gay, from lively to severe.' 
 
 But never till now did we taste all this variety of 
 gratification springing from one source ; the amazing 
 work of one mighty hand. It is impossible to describe 
 the sensations with which the mind is overwhelmed 
 on entering the British Gallery. The senses at first 
 refuse to grasp at the large prospect of delight, and 
 the earliest emotions are those of confusion and dis- 
 order. But we come by degrees to be reconciled to 
 the magic that surrounds us, and go from room to 
 room, and from picture to picture, experiencing all 
 the diversity of grateful sensations, which so inter- 
 esting a spectacle is sure to produce. To endeavour 
 in this paper to communicate any idea of these would 
 be vain ; we therefore confine ourselves to the general 
 statement in saying, that here is provided an en- 
 tertainment full of the dearest recollections to our 
 elder artists; — full of instructions to their juniors, in 
 tracing a Reynolds through a course of forty years ; 
 — full of national glory, and fraught with unmeasure- 
 able pleasure to all, while it is calculated to lay the 
 foundation of such improvement in the arts, as we 
 trust will raise Britain even to a higher rank than she 
 has yet held among the nations.' 
 
 "In the Observer, the following appeared on the 
 16th of May, 1813 :— 
 
 " ' Genius, like Egypt's Monarchs, timely wise 
 Constructs its own memorial ere it dies.' 
 
 "'Never has it fallen to the lot of genius in this 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 281 
 
 country to be so highly honoured as in the person of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds. Surrounded and admired, during 
 a long life, by all that was splendid in opulence, or 
 that was dignified in rank, all that was lovely in 
 beauty, all that was powerful in talents, all that was 
 estimable in virtue — his death was universally felt to be 
 a national calamity, an unexampled respect was paid 
 to his memory, he was followed to the grave by the 
 most noble and distinguished individuals in the land, 
 and the metropolis assumed an exterior of grief, 
 which, until that period, had been reserved for royalty 
 alone. 
 
 " '. The works of this great artist, diffused throughout 
 the empire, have long been the delight of every one 
 capable of appreciating excellence. The governors of 
 the British Institution, having conceived the magnificent 
 idea of collecting a number of the most highly esteemed 
 of those works, proceeded with that laudable ardour, by 
 which they have on so many occasions been actuated, to 
 execute their intention ; and the public were on Monday 
 last admitted to witness the triumph of British art, 
 which is the result of their exertions. 
 
 " ' Language is inadequate to express the effect of 
 this unprecedented assemblage of genuine splendour. 
 That admiration which the sight of a single fine pro- 
 duction of Sir Joshua's cannot but always inspire, is 
 here increased and sublimed till the mind is almost 
 overwhelmed by its intensity. An awful and indescribable 
 sensation — elevating conviction of the greatness of 
 human powers mingled with melancholy reflection on the 
 shortness of their duration — must be experienced by the 
 beholder. But what will unquestionably be the ultimate 
 and triumphant feeling of the generous and patriotic 
 breast, is exultation that England has given birth 
 to a painter of such exalted genius and such refined 
 
282 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 taste — a painter who, in immortalising himself, has 
 contributed with the kindred spirits of a Shakespeare, 
 Newton, and a Chatham, to confer on his country 
 that character by which alone a civilised and in- 
 tellectual world is distinguished from a savage and bar- 
 barous nation. 
 
 " ' The present exhibition will for ever set at rest the 
 question which by some has been so strangely raised as 
 to the competency of Sir Joshua Reynolds to the attain- 
 ment of excellence in the highest department of art, 
 had a corresponding disposition on the part of the public 
 induced him to direct his studies to that object. No 
 one can hesitate to pronounce in the affirmative, who 
 contemplates the Ugolino, the Cardinal Beaufort, or the 
 Infant Jupiter. Of his talents in compositions of a less 
 dignified but more generally pleasing nature, the Infant 
 Academy, the Robin Goodfellow, and the Gipsy For- 
 tune - teller, afford most exquisite specimens. But the 
 taste of the times in which Sir Joshua lived compelled 
 him to devote himself principally to portrait-painting ; 
 and the consequence was, that to that part of the art 
 he imparted an elevation which it had never before 
 enjoyed. Many of the finest of his performances of 
 that description are in the British Gallery, and they 
 exhibit the most profound knowledge of composi- 
 tion, colouring, and expression. Among the most 
 prominent of these are the portraits of Dr. Johnson, 
 Sterne, Goldsmith, Dr. Burney, the Marquis of Granby, 
 Admiral Keppell, Mr. Whitbread, Mrs. Robinson, Lady 
 Hamilton, Mr. Tomkins, Mr. Dunning, the Duke of 
 Orleans, &c. 
 
 " To these specimens many others might be added ; 
 for the press poured forth its praise in every shape and 
 from every quarter ; but what has been given will suf- 
 fice to show how much public feeling was excited by 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 283 
 
 that memorable display of the works of our illustrious 
 countryman."* 
 
 A general list of the most considerable of Sir 
 Joshua's historical and miscellaneous pieces may not 
 be unacceptable to the reader, and we give it, as ex- 
 tracted from Malone, with the prices paid for the pic- 
 tures, and the purchasers' names. Subjoined is Mr. 
 Farington's list of the pictures sent at various periods 
 by Sir Joshua to the exhibitions of the Incorporated 
 Society of Artists, and those of the Royal Academy. 
 
 SUBJECTS. PRICES. 
 
 Garrick, between Tragedy 
 and Comedy 300 gs. 
 
 Thais (Emily Pott) 100 
 
 Cleopatra dissolving the 
 
 pearl (Kitty Fisher) . . — 
 "Venus chiding Cupid for 
 
 learning arithmetic .... 100 
 Another, — the same sub- 
 ject 100 
 
 A Captain of Banditti 35 
 
 A Shepherd Boy 50 
 
 Count Ugolino 400 
 
 A Boy in a Venetian 
 
 dress — 
 
 Lesbia 75 
 
 Wang y Tong, a Chinese 70 
 
 A Gipsy telling fortunes 350 
 A Boy with a drawing in 
 
 his hand 50 
 
 Beggar Children — 
 
 Covent Garden Cupid .... — 
 
 Cupid, as a link-boy — 
 
 A Boy with a child on his 
 back, and cabbage-nets 
 
 in his hand — 
 
 The Comic Muse (Mrs. 
 
 Abington) — 
 
 PURCHASERS. 
 
 The Earl of Halifax. 
 Sine his death, sold to 
 Mr. Angerstein, for 250 
 guineas. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Greville. 
 
 The Earl of Charlemont. 
 
 Sir B. Boothby, Bart. 
 John Crewe, Esq. 
 Lord Irwin. 
 The Duke of Dorset. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 * Farington's Memoirs. 
 
284 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 SUBJECTS. PRICES. 
 
 A Bacchante (M e . Bac- 
 celli) 
 
 A Girl with a bird-cage. . — 
 
 The Calling of Samuel . . 50gs. 
 
 Another, — the same sub- 
 ject 75 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Garrick, 
 sitting on a garden-seat ; 
 Mr. Garrick reading to 
 her 150 
 
 A Girl with a mouse- 
 trap 50 
 
 A Landscape 50 
 
 A sleeping Boy 50 
 
 A Landscape 50 
 
 The Marchioness Towns- 
 hend, Mrs. Gardiner, 
 and the Hon. Mrs. 
 Beresford, decorating 
 the Statue of Hymen. . 450 
 
 Hope nursing Love .... — 
 
 Another, — the same sub- 
 ject — 
 
 Another, — the same sub- 
 ject 150 
 
 A Strawberry Girl 50 
 
 A Nymph (Mrs. Hartley 
 
 and Young Bacchus . . — 
 
 The Snake in the Grass 
 (this has been called 
 Love untying the zone 
 of Beauty) 200 
 
 Another A present. 
 
 Another lOOgs. 
 
 The Continence of Scipio 500 
 
 The Nativity (a design 
 for the window of New 
 College Chapel in Ox- 
 ford) 1200 
 
 The Infant Jupiter .... 100 
 
 An Old Man reading a 
 
 Ballad — 
 
 The Calling of Samuel . . 100 
 
 A Boy praying.. 50 
 
 The Death of Dido .... 200 
 
 PURCHASERS. 
 
 The Duke of Dorset. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Earl of Darnley. 
 
 The Hon. T. Fitzmaurice. 
 
 Count D'Ademar. 
 Earl of Aylesford. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Sir B. Boothby, Bart. 
 
 Viscount Mountjoy. 
 Lord Holland. 
 
 Earl of Inchiquin. 
 
 Henry Hope, Esq. 
 Earl of Carysfort. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Henry Hope, Esq. 
 Prince Potemkin. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 The Duke of Rutland. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Sent to France by Mr. 
 
 Chamier, in 1778. 
 Mr. Bryant. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 285 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 The Theory of Painting . 
 Another 
 
 A Shepherd Boy 
 
 A Shepherdess with a 
 Lamb 
 
 A Girl with a kitten .... 
 
 A Girl with a muff 
 
 Caelialamenting the Death 
 of her Sparrow (Mrs. 
 Collyer) 
 
 L'Allegro (Mrs. Hale) ; 
 several figures in the 
 background 
 
 Robinette (the Hon. Mrs. 
 Tollemache) 
 
 Diana (Lady Napier) . . 
 
 Diana (the Duchess of 
 Manchester) 
 
 Master Wynne, as St. 
 John 
 
 Master Crewe, as Henry 
 VIII 
 
 Master Herbert in the 
 character of Bacchus. . 
 
 Juno (Lady Blake) .... 
 
 Hebe (Miss Meyer, a 
 whole-length figure on 
 a half-length canvass) 
 
 Melancholy (Miss Jones) 
 
 Young Hannibal (a boy 
 in armour) 
 
 Francis, Duke of Bed- 
 ford, as St. George ; 
 with his brothers, Lord 
 John and Lord William 
 Russell 
 
 The Fortune-teller (Lady 
 Charlotte and Lord H. 
 Spencer) 
 
 Miranda (the Hon Mrs. 
 Tollemache) and Cali- 
 ban 
 
 St. Agnes (Mrs. Quaring- 
 ton) 
 
 PURCHASERS. 
 
 In the Royal Academy, 
 In the collection of the Earl 
 of Inchiquin. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 — Lord Harewood. 
 
 — The Duke of Manchester. 
 
 John Crewe, Esq. 
 Lord Porchester. 
 
 75 
 
 — TheDuke of Marlborough 
 
 50 
 
 R. P. Knight, Esq. 
 
286 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 SUBJECTS. PRICES. 
 
 The Triumph of Truth 
 (Dr. Beattie, with two 
 figures representing 
 Truth and Falsehood) . — 
 
 A Boy laughing 50 gs 
 
 Ariadne 35 
 
 Dionysius Areopagita . . 
 
 The Captive (this has been 
 called the Banished 
 Lord and Cartouche). . 80 
 
 The Calling of Samuel. . — 
 
 Lady Sarah Bunbury, sa- 
 crificing to the Graces . 
 
 The Infant Moses in the 
 
 Bulrushes 125 
 
 Edwin 55 
 
 A Child with Angels 
 
 The Virgin and Child 
 (this picture was not 
 quite finished) 65 
 
 The Angel contemplating 
 the Cross; being the 
 upper part of the Na- 
 tivity 
 
 The Four Cardinal Vir- 
 tues, Justice, Prudence, 
 Temperance, and For- 
 titude ; and Faith, 
 Hope, and Charity : 
 designs for the win- 
 dow of New College, 
 Oxford, painted by Mr. 
 Jervais — 
 
 A Bacchante 56 
 
 Another 75 
 
 A Holy Family 500 
 
 PURCHASERS. 
 
 Tuccia, the Vestal Virgin 
 The Gleaner, (Mrs. Mack- 
 lin, her Daughter, and 
 
 Miss Potts) 
 
 St. John 
 
 Dr. Beattie, 
 
 — Bromwell, Esq. 
 
 W. Lock, Esq, 
 
 Charies Long, Esq. 
 Ditto. 
 
 — Sir C. Bunbury, Bart. 
 
 The Duke of Leeds 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Mr. J. Bannister. 
 
 Bequeathed to the Duke 
 of Portland. 
 
 300 
 
 300 
 150 
 
 In the wOiiection of the 
 Earl of Inchiquin. 
 
 Sir W. Hamilton. 
 
 The Earl of Lauderdale. 
 
 Mr. Macklin, printseller 
 Afterwards sold to L' 
 Gwydir for 700 guineas, 
 
 Mr. Macklin. 
 
 Ditto. 
 — Willet, Esq. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 287 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 St.Cecilia (Mrs. Sheridan, 
 and two Daughters of 
 Coote Purdon, Esq.).. 
 
 Two Groups, in the man- 
 ner of Paul Veronese ; 
 one containing the por- 
 traits of the Duke of 
 Leeds, Lord Dundas, 
 Constantine Lord Mul- 
 grave, Lord Sea- 
 forth, the Honourable 
 C. Greville, Charles 
 Crowle, Esq., and the 
 Right Hon. Sir Joseph 
 Banks, Bart ; the other, 
 those of Sir W. Hamil- 
 ton, Sir W.W. Wynne, 
 Bart., Richard Thomp- 
 son, Esq., Sir John 
 Taylor, — Payne Gal- 
 way, Esq., John Smyth, 
 Esq., and Spencer Stan- 
 hope, Esq. 
 
 A Boy with a portfolio 
 
 A studious Boy 
 
 A pouting Girl 
 
 The Family of George 
 Duke of Marlborough. 
 
 Circe 
 
 The Children in the Wood 
 
 A Girl leaning on a Pe- 
 destal . ; 
 
 The Infant Academy 
 
 Venus 
 
 Una, from Spenser (Miss 
 Beauclerk) 
 
 King Lear 
 
 Heads of Angels, a study. 
 From a daughter of 
 Lord William Gordon. 
 
 Cardinal Beaufort 
 
 Robert Goodfellow 
 
 The Cauldron Scene in 
 Macbeth 
 
 PRICES. PURCHASERS. 
 
 150 gs. R. B. Sheridan, Esq. 
 
 — Society of Dilettanti. 
 50 Earl of Warwick. 
 
 — G. Hardinge, Esq. 
 
 — Ditto. 
 
 700 The Duke of Marlborough. 
 
 35 Sir C. Bunbury, Bart. 
 
 50 Lord Palmerston. 
 
 75 Ditto. 
 
 — Ditto, by bequest. 
 
 — The Earl of Upper Ossof y. 
 
 by bequest. 
 
 — In the collection of Lord 
 
 Inchiquin. 
 
 — Ditto. 
 
 100 Lord W. Gordon. 
 
 500 Mr. Aid. BoydelL 
 100 Ditto. 
 
 1000 Ditto. 
 
2S3 
 
 MEMOIR OP 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 Resignation, from Gold- 
 smith's Deserted Vil- 
 lage 
 
 Venus, and a Boy piping . 
 
 Mrs. Siddons, in the cha- 
 racter of the Tragic 
 Muse 
 
 A Girl with a cat 
 
 A Girl with a bird's nest . 
 
 The Infant Hercules in 
 the cradle (a single 
 figure painted before 
 the large picture) 
 
 Hercules strangling the 
 serpents 
 
 Cupid and Psyche 
 
 Cymon and Iphigenia 
 (this was the last fancy 
 picture painted by Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds) .... 
 
 PURCHASERS. 
 
 — In the collection of Lord 
 
 Inchiquin 
 
 250 gs. J.J. Angerstein, Esq. 
 
 700 
 
 1500 
 250 
 
 N. Desenfans, Esq. 
 Ditto. 
 Ditto. 
 
 150 Earl Fitzwilliam. 
 
 Empress of Russia. 
 Charles Long, Esq. 
 
 — In the collection of Lord 
 Inchiquin. 
 
 A List of the Number of Pictures exhibited by Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds ; with the years in which they were 
 exhibited. 
 
 The first Exhibition was in 1760, at the Great Room 
 belonging to the Society instituted for the Encourage- 
 ment of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. 
 
 1760 Mr. Reynolds sent 4 pictures. 
 
 The following year, viz. 1761, the artists exhibited at 
 the Great Room in Spring Gardens. 
 
 1761 Mr. Reynolds sent 5 pictures. One of them was a portrait 
 
 of the Rev. Lawrence 
 Sterne, the celebrated au- 
 thor. 
 
 1762 — 3 — One of them Mr. Garrick 
 
 between Tragedy and 
 Comedy. 
 
 1763 — 4 — 
 
 1764 — 2 — 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 289 
 
 1765 Mr. Reynolds sent 2 pictures. One of them a whole length 
 
 of Lady Sarah Bun bury 
 sacrificing to the Graces. 
 
 1766 — 4 — 
 
 1767 — — — 
 
 1768 — 1 — 
 And at an Exhibi- 
 tion made for the 
 
 King of Den- 
 mark 4 — 
 
 25 
 
 The Royal Academy having been instituted in 1768, and Mr. . 
 Reynolds elected President of the Society, he from that time ex- 
 hibited at the Royal Academy only. 
 
 1769 Mr. Reynolds sent 4 pictures. 
 
 1770 
 1771 
 7772 
 1773 
 
 
 8 — 
 6 — 
 6 — 
 12 — 
 
 Including whole-length por- 
 traits of the Duke and 
 Duchess of Cumberland. 
 
 1774 
 
 1775 
 1776 
 1777 
 
 
 13 — 
 
 12 — 
 
 12 — 
 
 13 — 
 
 Including the Duchess of 
 Gloucester and the Princess 
 Sophia ; also the Mar- 
 chioness Townshend and 
 her sisters, Mrs. Gardiner, 
 and Mrs. Beresford, deco- 
 rating the altar of Hymen ; 
 also his first infant Jupiter. 
 
 Including Mrs. Sheridan, us 
 St. Cecilia. 
 
 Including Omiah, and Mas- 
 ter. Crewe as Henry VIII. 
 
 Including the "Fortune- 
 teller." 
 
 1778 
 1779 
 
 
 4 — 
 11 — 
 
 Including the Nativity. This 
 fine work of art was unfor- 
 tunately destroyed by fire 
 at Belvoir Castle (the 
 Duke of Rutland's). 
 
 1780 
 1781 
 
 
 6 — 
 8 — 
 
 Including the Death of Dido, 
 and portraits of the Three 
 Ladies Waldgrave. 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
290 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 1782 Mr. Reynolds sent 13 pictures 
 
 1783 — 10 — 
 
 1784 — 14 — Including the Friuce of 
 
 Wales, and Col. St. Lcger ■ 
 his fine whole length of 
 Mrs. Siddons ; and a por- 
 trait of the Right Hon. 
 Charles Fox. 
 
 1785 — 15 — 
 
 1786 — 12 — Including a whole length 
 
 portrait of the Duke of 
 Orleans. 
 
 1787 — 12 — • Including the Prince of 
 
 Wales, &c. 
 
 1788 — 18 — Including Hercules ; the pic- 
 
 ture painted for the Em- 
 press Catharine. 
 
 1789 — 12 — Including the Continence of 
 
 Scipio, Cymon and Iphi- 
 genia, Cupid and Psyche, 
 and Robin Goodfellow. 
 
 1790 The last year of 
 
 his exhibiting 17 — Including Mrs. Billington, 
 
 228 
 
 the singer, &c. 
 
 Total. — At the Room of the Society of Arts 4 
 
 At the Room in Spring Gardens 20 
 
 At the Royal Academy 228 
 
 Total 252 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 Mr. Malone has stated that the collection of 
 
 pictures by ancient masters, belonging to Sir 
 
 Joshua Reynolds, was in March. 1795, sold by 
 
 auction for , 10,319 2 6 
 
 And in April, 179S, various historical and fancy 
 
 pieces of his own painting, together with some 
 
 unclaimed portraits, for 4,505 18 
 
 To which may be added, that his collection of 
 
 drawings and prints was sold by auction in 
 
 March, 1798, for 1,903 O 
 
 £16,728 ~(T~0 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 291 
 
 We have already pointed out, on former occasions, 
 the nature of the principles by which Sir Joshua was 
 regulated in the course of a long and successful career. 
 He considered the works of the best ancient masters 
 as the most infallible guide for the student; and bv 
 these his own practice was uniformly guided, even at 
 the height of his greatest celebrity, when he was him- 
 self so well qualified to give instruction to others. If 
 Reynolds, with his limited professional education, was 
 enabled to profit so considerably from the works of the 
 ancients, how much greater progress should reasonably 
 be expected from students of the present generation, 
 who may truly be said to have that instruction placed 
 before them, with every facility of profiting by its ad- 
 vantages, which he was reduced to seek for under 
 circumstances the most discouraging, with no other 
 aid than his own perseverance and industry ! 
 
 We are firmly convinced that by pursuing the line 
 of study pointed out in Sir Joshua's incomparable Dis- 
 courses, the student in painting will do more for 
 himself, on the basis of his well-grounded academic 
 education, than any other mode of instruction can se- 
 cure to him ; and that the method of study which he 
 has recommended — the study of the works of the best 
 ancient masters — will be found, in the present advanced 
 state of the arts, when so great a portion of mechanical 
 dexterity and so good a view of nature have already 
 been acquired, to afford the best means, if not indeed 
 the only ones, of directing the painter to those import- 
 ant excellences which notning but theory can teach, 
 and which are at present nearly all that remain to be 
 acquired. 
 
 Sir Joshua has availed himself in his Discourses of 
 much valuable matter on the general principles of art, 
 brought together with great labour, and selected with 
 
 v 2 
 
292 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 much discrimination by the author of an excellent 
 little treatise on painting written nearly two centuries 
 ago ; and which would probably have never been prac- 
 tically useful if Reynolds had not forced .its contents 
 into notice, and given them the form which they 
 assume in his lectures. The admirable manner in 
 which he has illustrated the principles contained in 
 that interesting volume, which are chiefly derived from 
 Greek and Roman authorities, has given them a value 
 which they would never have possessed in the form in 
 which they were arranged, and a much more extensive 
 circulation than the author of the work could have 
 ever anticipated. The book formed a part of Sir 
 Joshua's collection, and was sold at the sale of his 
 effects. It is now in the possession of Mr. Rothwell, 
 whose talent as an artist is well known to the public, 
 and whose modesty and worth cannot fail to be ap- 
 preciated by all who have the pleasure of his acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 So far from detracting from the merit of the Dis- 
 courses, we think the use which Sir Joshua has made 
 of the contents of the volume alluded to is at once 
 highly creditable to his judgment in distinguishing 
 their merit, to his ability in their selection, illustration, 
 and arrangement, and to the unassuming spirit with 
 which he has adopted the principles which others sug- 
 gested to him. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, in fact, did not disdain to draw 
 instruction from any sources through which it was 
 possible to obtain it. He frequently adopted the sug- 
 gestions of those who were wholly uninstructed in the 
 principles and unacquainted with the practice of the 
 art ; and often derived hints from the observations of 
 children, to which, indeed, he attached a great degree 
 of importance. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 2S3 
 
 " I cannot but think," he has remarked in one of his 
 manuscript fragments, " that Apelles's method of ex- 
 posing his pictures to the public was a good one. I 
 do not know why the judgment of the vulgar on the 
 mechanical parts of painting should not be as good as 
 any whatever ; for instance, as to whether such or 
 such a part be natural or not. If one of those persons 
 should ask why half the face is black, or why there is 
 a spot of black, or snuff, as they will call it, under the 
 nose, I should conclude from thence that the shadows 
 were thick, or dirtily painted, or that the shadow 
 under the nose was too much resembling snuff ; when 
 if those shadows had exactly resembled the trans- 
 parency and colour of nature, they would have no 
 more been taken notice of than the shadow in nature 
 itself. Yet I have seen painters lift up their eyes at 
 such observations, and, wrapping themselves up in 
 their own conceit, complain of the want of connois- 
 sance in the world, in order to value their works as 
 they deserve ; never suspecting the fault to be in them- 
 selves. At the same time, however," he farther re- 
 marks, " a painter should take care not to condescend 
 too far, and sacrifice his taste to the judgment of the 
 multitude : few are capable of giving a good judgment 
 in regard to the delicacy of expression." 
 
 We shall conclude with the following remarks of 
 Sir Joshua, which were either the result of convers- 
 ations with his friends, or collected from fragments 
 written by himself ; and will serve to show his pecu- 
 liar habit of observation, and of noting whatever he 
 thought worth retaining : — 
 
 " The great principle of being happy in this world 
 is not to be affected with small things. 
 
 " No man relishes an evening walk like him whose 
 mind has been employed the whole preceding day. 
 u 3 
 
294 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Folite behaviour and refined address, like good 
 pictures, make the least show to ordinary eyes. 
 
 " Humility is not to despise any thing, especially 
 mankind. 
 
 " Magnanimity is not to be disturbed by anything. 
 
 " A man is a pedant, who, having been brought up 
 among books, is able to talk of nothing else. The 
 same of a soldier, lawyer, painter, &c. 
 
 " Natural is that which is according to the common 
 course of things ; consequently, an ugly face is un- 
 natural. 
 
 " The character of a nation is, perhaps, more 
 strongly marked by their taste in painting than in any 
 other pursuit, although more considerable ; as you 
 may easier find which way the wind sits, by throwing 
 up a straw in the air than any heavier substance. 
 
 " Rules are very necessary to, but will never make, 
 a painter. They should be used as servants, and sub- 
 ject to us, not we to them. 
 
 " In painting, prefer truth to freedom of hand. 
 
 " Grandeur is composed of straight lines. Genteel- 
 ness and elegance, of serpentine lines. 
 
 " A firm and determined manner is grand, but not 
 elegant. 
 
 " Genteelness is not being crowded, especially if 
 there is fulness at the same time. 
 
 " Air is a single moment of action. Simplicity is 
 an exact medium between too little and too much. 
 Grace is the medium of motion ; beauty is the me- 
 dium of form ; and genteelness is the medium of 
 fashion. 
 
 " Ornament is the medium between wanting what 
 is necessary and being over furnished; ornament 
 ought to arise only from the right ordering of things. 
 Onto is the Latin for to furnish. 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 295 
 
 " Manner in painting is like peculiarity of behaviour ; 
 though it may please a few, the bulk of mankind will 
 condemn it. 
 
 " The only wages a real genius thinks of in his 
 labour is the praise of impartial judges. 
 
 " A good portrait painter may not be capable of 
 painting history, but a good historical painter, for cer- 
 tain, has the ability to paint portraits." 
 
 DETAILED ACCOUNT 
 
 OP 
 
 THE FUNERAL CEREMONY. 
 
 The following account of the ceremonial was written by 
 a friend the day after the funeral, and published in se- 
 veral of the newspapers. 
 
 " On Saturday last, at half an hour after three 
 o'clock, was interred the body of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 Knt., Doctor of Laws in the Universities of Oxford 
 and Dublin, principal painter to his Majesty, President 
 of the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and 
 Architecture, Fellow of the Royal Society, and Fellow 
 of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 " He was interred in the vast crypt of the cathedral 
 church of St. Paul, next to the body of Dr. Newton, 
 late Bishop of Bristol, himself an eminent critic in 
 poetry and painting, and close by the tomb of the 
 u 4 
 
296 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 famous Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of that great 
 edifice. 
 
 " The body was conveyed on the preceding night to 
 the Royal Academy, according to the express orders of 
 his Majesty, by a condescension highly honourable to 
 the memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and gratifying to 
 the wishes of that Society of eminent artists. ' It lay 
 that night, and until the beginning of the funeral pro- 
 cession, in state, in the model-room of the Academy. 
 
 "The company who attended the funeral assembled 
 in the library and council- chamber ; the Royal Academy 
 in the exhibition-room. 
 
 '* The company consisted of a great number of the 
 most distinguished persons, who were emulous in their 
 desire of paying the last honours to the remains of 
 him, whose life had been distinguished by the ex- 
 ertions of the highest talents, and the exercise of every 
 virtue that can make a man respected and beloved. 
 Many more were prevented by illness, and unexpected 
 and unavoidable occasions, which they much regretted, 
 from attending. 
 
 " Never was a public solemnity conducted with more 
 order, decorum, and dignity. The procession set out 
 at half an hour after twelve o'clock. The hearse ar- 
 rived at the great western gate of St. Paul's, about 
 a quarter after two, and was there met by the dignitaries 
 of the church, and by the gentlemen of the choir, 
 who chanted the proper psalms, whilst the procession 
 moved to the entrance of the choir, where was per- 
 formed, in a superior manner, the full- choir evening 
 service, together with the famous anthem of Dr. 
 Boyce; the body remaining during the whole time 
 in the centre of the choir. 
 
 "The chief mourner and gentlemen of the Aca- 
 demy, as of the family, were placed by the body : tflie 
 
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 297 
 
 chief mourner in a chair at the head ; the two attend- 
 ants at the feet ; the pall-bearers and executors in the 
 seats on the decanal side; the other noblemen and 
 gentlemen on the cantorial side. The Bishop of Lon- 
 don was in his proper place, as were the Lord Mayor 
 and Sheriffs. 
 
 " After the service, the body was conveyed into the 
 crypt, and placed immediately beneath the perforated 
 brass plate, under the centre of the dome. Dr. Jef- 
 feries, Canon Residentiary, with the other Canons, and 
 the whole choir, came under the dome; the grave- 
 digger attending in the middle with a shovel of mould, 
 which at the proper time was thrown through the 
 aperture of the plate, on the coffin. The funeral 
 service was chanted, and accompanied on the organ 
 in a grand and affecting manner. When the funeral 
 service was ended, the chief mourners and executors 
 went into the crypt, and attended the corpse to the 
 grave, which was dug under the pavement. 
 
 " The order of the procession was as follows : — 
 
 The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, and City Marshals. 
 
 The undertaker and ten conductors on horseback. 
 
 A lid with plumes of feathers. 
 
 The hearse with six horses. 
 
 Ten pall bearers ; viz. 
 
 The Duke of Dorset, Lord High Steward of his Majesty s 
 
 household. 
 Duke of Leeds. 
 Duke of Portland. 
 Marquis Townshend. 
 Marquis of Abercorn. 
 Earl of Carlisle. 
 Earl of Inchiquin. 
 Earl of Upper Ossory. 
 Lord Viscount Palmerston. 
 Lord Eliot. 
 
 Robert Lovel Gwatkin, Esq. Chief Mourner. 
 
 Two attendants of the family. 
 
 The Right Hon. Edmund Burke, } 
 
 Edmond Malone, Esq. > Executors. 
 
 Philip Metcalfe, Esq. ) 
 
298 MEMOIR OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 The Royal Academicians and Students. 
 Bennet Langton, Esq. (Professor in Ancient Literature.) 
 James Boswell, Esq. (Secretary for Foreign Correspondence.) 
 
 The Archbishop of York. 
 Earl of Fife. 
 Lord St. Asaph. 
 Lord Fortescue. 
 Lord Lucan. 
 
 Right Hon. W. Windham. 
 Sir George Beaumont, Bart. 
 Sir Charles Bunbury, Bart. 
 Dr. George Fordyce. 
 Dr. Brocklesby. 
 Sir William Scott, M.P. 
 John Rolle, Esq. M.P. 
 Reginald Pole Carew, Esq 
 M.P. 
 
 Mat. Montagu, Esq. M.P. 
 Dudley North, Esq. M.P. 
 Abel Moysey, Esq. 
 John Thomas Batt, Esq. 
 Colonel Gwynn. 
 Dr. Lawrence. 
 James Martin, Esq. 
 Edward Jerningham, Esq. 
 Richard Burke, Esq. 
 John Julius Angerstein, Esq. 
 Charles Burney, Esq. 
 William Cruikshank, Esq. 
 John Philip Kemble, Esq. 
 Mr. Alderman Boydell. 
 Mr. Poggi. 
 
 The Marquis of Buckingham. 
 Earl of Carysfort. 
 Lord Bishop of London. 
 Lord Somers. 
 The Dean of Norwich. 
 Sir Abraham Hume, B.ti \ 
 Sir Thomas Dundas, Bart. 
 Sir William Forbes, Bart. 
 Dr. Ash. 
 Dr. Blagden. 
 George Rose, Esq. M.i. . 
 William Weddell, Esq. M.P. 
 Richard Clarke, Esq. 
 
 Richard P. Knight, Esq. M.P. 
 Charles Townley, Esq. 
 John Cleveland, Esq. M.P. 
 Welbore Ellis Agar, Esq. 
 Captain Pole. 
 William Seward, Esq. 
 
 Drewe, Esq. 
 
 William Vachell, Esq. 
 Thomas Coutts, Esq. 
 Edward Gwatkin, Esq. 
 John Hunter, Esq. 
 
 Home, Esq. 
 
 Joseph Hickey, Esq. 
 John Devaynes, Esq 
 Mr. Breda. 
 
1 299] 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 PORTRAITS OF SIR JOSHUA. 
 
 We have already mentioned, in the body of the Memoir, 
 when speaking of the periods at which they were painted, 
 the greater number of the portraits still existing of Sir 
 Joshua ; but as it may be convenient, for the purpose 
 of reference, to have a list of them collectively an- 
 nexed to the work, we subjoin the following notice, 
 extracted from Malone, of all the portraits which were 
 painted of Sir Joshua Reynolds, including those which 
 were executed by others among the pictures which he 
 painted of himself : — 
 
 " The last portrait which. Sir Joshua painted of himself, (with 
 spectacles) 1788, is extremely like him, and exhibits him exactly 
 as he appeared in his latter days, in domestic life. It is a three- 
 quarter picture, in the collection of the Earl of Inchiquin, and his 
 Grace the Duke of Leeds has a duplicate of it. There is a por- 
 trait of him, by himself, in the dining room of the Society of 
 Dilettanti in Pall Mall, a three-quarter also : he is dressed in a 
 loose robe, and has his own hair. Another (in which he holds his 
 hand to his ear, to aid the sound), painted for Mr. Thrale, about 
 1775, is in the possession of Mrs. Piozzi, Another (a half-length) 
 is in the council room of the Royal Academy, with the cap and 
 gown of a doctor of civil law ; which honour he received from 
 the university of Oxford, July 9, 1773 ; in this picture he has 
 introduced the bust of Michel Angelo. Another, in the same 
 dress, a three-quarter, was in Belvoir Castle ; and a third, in the 
 same dress, in the gallery of the grand duke, at Florence. Another 
 portrait of him is preserved at the town-hall at Plympton, also 
 painted and presented by himself: in this picture a red gown is 
 thrown carelessly about him, and he is without a cap. One nearly 
 resembling this, and painted before it, is at Taplow Court. We 
 have another portrait of our author in the dress of a shepherd, with 
 VOL. I. f~u 61 
 
[300] 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 Mr. Jervais, the glass-painter, in one of the pictures painted as de- 
 signs for the great window of New College at Oxford ; and Mr. 
 Farington, R.A., has a portrait of him, by himself, as a painter, 
 with a canvass, easel, &c. before him. Another portrait of him, by 
 himself, is in the possession of Robert Lovel Gwatkin, Esq., of 
 Killiow, in Cornwall. Lord Inchiquin has two portraits of our 
 author, when young ■. one, when he was about thirty years old, in 
 his own hair ; the other younger, in the manner of Rembrandt, in 
 his own hair also, with his great coat and hat on. Another youth- 
 ful portrait done before he went to Italy, is said to be in the pos- 
 session of Thomas Lane, Esq. of Cofflent, in Devonshire. 
 
 " There is also a portrait of him painted by American Stuart, 
 about the year 1784, and formerly in the possession of Alderman 
 Boydell ; another by Zoffany, in a picture representing all the 
 artists of the Academy about the year 1770, in the King's Col- 
 lection ; and not long before his death, when he was much indis- 
 posed, he sat to Mr. Breda, a Swedish painter. 
 
 " Soon after Gainsborough settled in London, Sir Joshua 
 thought himself bound in civility to pay him a visit. That 
 painter, however, as our author told me, took not the least notice 
 of him for several years ; but at length called upon him and re- 
 quested him to sit for his picture. Sir Joshua complied, and sat 
 once, but being soon afterwards taken ill, he was obliged to go to 
 Bath for his health. On his return to London, perfectly re- 
 stored, he sent Gainsborough word that he was returned; to 
 which Gainsborough, who was extremely capricious, only replied 
 that he was glad to hear that Sir Joshua Reynolds was well ; and 
 he never afterwards desired Sir Joshua to sit, nor had he any other 
 intercourse with him till a short time before his (Gainsborough's) 
 death, when he sent to request to see Sir Joshua, and thanked 
 him for the very liberal and favourable manner in which he had 
 always spoken of his works, — a circumstance which our author 
 has thought worth recording in his Fourteenth Discourse." 
 
 " A marble bust of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by Cirachi, an Italian 
 sculptor, is in the possession of the Earl of Inchiquin ; an d an- 
 other bust, modelled from the life in terra cotta, more like than the 
 marble bust which was done from it, was sold by aucti on by 
 Greenwood, in 1792. I have a medallion," continues Malone, 
 " modelled in wax by Mountstephen, which is a very faithful repre- 
 sentation of this great painter in his usual evening dress. It was 
 done in 1790, when he was in his sixty-seventh year." 
 
DISCOURSES. 
 
THE KING. 
 
 The regular progress of cultivated life is from 
 necessaries to accommodations, from accommo- 
 dations to ornaments. By your illustrious pre- 
 decessors were established Marts for manufactures, 
 and Colleges for science : but for the arts of ele- 
 gance, those arts by which manufactures are 
 embellished, and science is refined, to found an 
 Academy was reserved for Your Majesty. 
 
 Had such patronage been without effect, there 
 had been reason to believe that Nature had, by 
 some insurmountable impediment, obstructed our 
 proficiency ; but the annual improvement of the 
 Exhibitions which Your Majesty has been pleased 
 to encourage, shows that only encouragement had 
 been wanting. 
 
302 DEDICATION. 
 
 To give advice to those who are contending for 
 royal liberality, has been for some years the duty 
 of my station in the Academy ; and these Dis- 
 courses hope for Your Majesty's acceptance, as 
 well-intended endeavours to incite that emulation 
 which your notice has kindled, and direct those 
 studies which your bounty has rewarded. 
 
 May it please Your Majesty, 
 
 Your Majesty's 
 Most dutiful Servant, 
 
 And most faithful Subject, 
 
 [1778.] 
 
 JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
TO 
 
 THE MEMBERS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 That you have ordered the publication of this dis- 
 course, is not only very nattering to me, as it implies 
 your approbation of the method of study which I have 
 recommended; but likewise, as this method receives 
 from that act such an additional weight and authority, 
 as demands from the Students that deference and re- 
 spect, which can be due only to the united sense of so 
 considerable a Body of Artists. 
 
 I am, 
 
 With the greatest esteem and respect, 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most humble, 
 
 And obedient Servant, 
 
 JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
305 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 Delivered at the Opening of the Royal Academy, 
 January 2. 1769. 
 
 TKB ADVANTAGES PROCEEDING FROM THE. INSTITUTION OF A ROYAL 
 
 ACADEMY. HINTS OFFERED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE 
 
 PROFESSORS AND VISITERS. — THAT AN IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE TO 
 THE RULES OF ART BE EXACTED FROM THE YOUNG STUDENTS. 
 
 THAT A PREMATURE DISPOSITION TO A MASTERLY DEXTERITY 
 
 BE REPRESSED. — THAT DILIGENCE BE CONSTANTLY RECOMMENDED, 
 AND (THAT IT MAY BE EFFECTUAL) DIRECTED TO ITS PROPER 
 OBJECT. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 An Academy, in which the Polite Arts may be regu- 
 larly cultivated, is at last opened among us by Royal 
 Munificence. This must appear an event in the highest 
 degree interesting, not only to the Artist, but to the 
 whole nation. 
 
 It is indeed difficult to give any other reason, why 
 an empire like that of Britain should so long have 
 wanted an ornament so suitable to its greatness, than 
 that slow progression of things, which naturally makes 
 elegance and refinement the last effect of opulence and 
 power. 
 
 An Institution like this has often been recommended 
 upon considerations merely mercantile ; but- an Aca- 
 demy, founded upon such principles, can never effect 
 even its own narrow purposes. If it has an origin no 
 higher, no taste can ever be formed in manufactures ; 
 but if the higher Arts of Design flourish, these inferior 
 ends will be answered of course. 
 
 We are happy in having a Prince, who has conceived 
 vol. i. x 
 
306 
 
 THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 the design of such an Institution, according to its true 
 dignity ; and who promotes the Arts, as the head of a 
 great, a learned, a polite, and a commercial nation ; 
 and I can now congratulate you, Gentlemen, on the 
 accomplishment of your long and ardent wishes. 
 
 The numberless and ineffectual consultations which 
 I have had with many in this assembly to form plans 
 and concert schemes for an Academy, afford a sufficient 
 proof of the impossibility of succeeding but by the in- 
 fluence of Majesty. But there have, perhaps, been 
 times, when even the influence of Majesty would 
 have been ineffectual ; and it is pleasing to reflect, that 
 we are thus embodied, when every circumstance seems 
 to concur from which honour and prosperity can pro- 
 pably arise. 
 
 There are, at this time, a greater number of excel- 
 lent artists than were ever known before at one period 
 in this nation ; there is a general desire among our 
 Nobility to be distinguished as lovers and judges of the 
 Arts ; there is a greater superfluity of wealth among 
 the people to reward the professors ; and, above all, 
 we are patronised by a Monarch, who, knowing the 
 value of science and of elegance, thinks every art 
 worthy of his notice, that tends to soften and humanise 
 the mind. 
 
 After so much has been done by His Majesty, it 
 will be wholly our fault, if our progress is not in some 
 degree correspondent to the wisdom and generosity of 
 the Institution : let us show our gratitude in our dili- 
 gence, that, though our merit may not answer his ex- 
 pectations, yet, at least, our industry may deserve his 
 protection. 
 
 But whatever may be our proportion of success, of 
 this we may be sure, that the present Institution will 
 at least contribute to advance our knowledge of the 
 
THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 307 
 
 Arts, and bring us nearer to that ideal excellence, 
 which it is the lot of genius always to contemplate, and 
 never to attain. 
 
 The principal advantage of an Academy is, that, be- 
 sides furnishing able men to direct the Student, it will 
 be a repository for the great examples of the Art. 
 These are the materials on which Genius is to work, 
 and without which the strongest intellect may be fruit- 
 lessly or deviously employed. By studying these 
 authentic models, that idea of excellence which is the 
 result of the accumulated experience of past ages may 
 be at once acquired ; and the tardy and obstructed 
 progress of our predecessors may teach us a shorter 
 and easier way. The Student receives, at one glance, 
 the principles which many Artists have spent their 
 whole lives in ascertaining ; and, satisfied with their 
 effect, is spared ths painful investigation by which they 
 came to be known and fixed. How many men of great 
 natural abilities have been lost to this nation, for want 
 of these advantages ! They never had an opportunity 
 of seeing those masterly efforts of genius, which at once 
 kindle the whole soul, and force it into sudden and 
 irresistible approbation. 
 
 Raffaelle, it is true, had not the advantage of study- 
 ing in an Academy ; but all Rome, and the works of 
 Michel Angelo in particular, were to him an Academy. 
 On the sight of the Capella Sistina, he immediately, 
 from a dry, Gothic, and even insipid manner, which 
 attends to the minute accidental discriminations of par- 
 ticular and individual objects, assumed that grand style 
 of painting, which improves partial representation by 
 the general and invariable ideas of nature. 
 
 Every seminary of learning may be said to be sur- 
 rounded with an atmosphere of floating knowledge, 
 where every mind may imbibe somewhat congenial to 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 its own original conceptions. Knowledge, thus ob- 
 tained, has always something more popular and useful 
 than that which is forced upon the mind by private 
 precepts, or solitary meditation. Besides, it is gene- 
 rally found, that a youth more easily receives instruc- 
 tion from the companions of his studies, whose minds 
 are nearly on a level with his own, than from those 
 who are much his superiors ; and it is from his equals 
 only that he catches the fire of emulation. 
 
 One advantage, I will venture to affirm, we shall 
 have in our Academy, which no other nation can boast. 
 We shall have nothing to unlearn. To this praise the 
 present race of Artists have a just claim. As far as 
 they have yet proceeded, they are right. With us the 
 exertions of genius will henceforward be directed to 
 their proper objects. It will not be as it has been in 
 other schools, where he that travelled fastest only 
 wandered farthest from the right way. 
 
 Impressed, as I am, therefore, with such a favourable 
 opinion of my associates in this undertaking, it would 
 ill become me to dictate to any of them. But as these 
 Institutions have so often failed in other nations ; and 
 as it is natural to think with regret, how much might 
 have been done, I must take leave to offer a few hints, 
 bv which those errors may be rectified, and those 
 defects supplied. These the Professors and Visiters 
 may reject or adopt as they shall think proper. 
 
 I would chiefly recommend, that an implicit obe- 
 dience to the Rules of Art, as established by the prac- 
 tice of the great Masters, should be exacted from the 
 yovng Students. That those models, which have passed 
 through the approbation of ages, should be considered 
 by them as perfect and infallible guides ; as subjects for 
 their imitation, not their criticism. 
 
 I am confident, that this is the only efficacious me- 
 
THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 309 
 
 thod of making a progress in the Arts; and that he 
 who sets out with doubting, will find fife finished be- 
 fore he becomes master of the rudiments. For it may- 
 be laid down as a maxim, that he who begins by pre- 
 suming on his own sense, has ended his studies as soon 
 as he has commenced them. Every opportunity, there- 
 fore, should be taken to discountenance that false and 
 vulgar opinion, that rules are the fetters of genius : 
 they are fetters only to men of no genius ; as that 
 armour, which upon the strong is an ornament and a 
 defence, upon the weak and mis-shapen becomes a 
 load, and cripples the body which it was made to 
 protect. 
 
 How much liberty may be taken to break through 
 those rules, and, as the poet expresses it, 
 
 To snatch a grace beyond the reach of art, 
 
 may be a subsequent consideration, when the pupils 
 become masters themselves. It is then, when their 
 genius has received its utmost improvement, that rules 
 may possibly be dispensed with. But let us not destroy 
 the scaffold, until we have raised the building. 
 
 The Directors ought more particularly to watch over 
 the genius of those Students, who, being more advanced, 
 are arrived at that critical period of study, on the nice 
 management of which their future turn of taste depends. 
 At that age it is natural for them to be more captivated 
 with what is brilliant than with what is solid, and to 
 prefer splendid negligence to painful and humiliating 
 exactness. 
 
 A facility in composing, a livery, and what is 
 called a masterly, handling of the chalk or pencil, are, 
 it must be confessed, captivating qualities to young 
 minds, and become of course the objects of their am- 
 bition. They endeavour to imitate these dazzling ex- 
 x 8 
 
310 
 
 THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 cellencies, which they will find no great labour in 
 attaining. After much time spent in these frivolous 
 pursuits, the difficulty will be to retreat ; but it will be 
 then too late ; and there is scarce an instance of return 
 to scrupulous labour, after the mind has been de- 
 bauched and deceived by this fallacious mastery. 
 
 By this useless industry they are excluded from all 
 power of advancing in real excellence. Whilst boys, 
 they are arrived at their utmost perfection : they have 
 taken the shadow for the substance; and make the 
 mechanical felicity the chief excellence of the art, 
 which is only an ornament, and of the merit of which 
 few but painters themselves are judges. 
 
 This seems to me to be one of the most dangerous 
 sources of corruption; and I speak of it from expe- 
 rience, not as an error which may possibly happen, but 
 which has actually infected all foreign Academies. 
 The directors were probably pleased with this prema- 
 ture dexterity in their pupils, and praised their despatch 
 at the expense of their correctness. 
 
 But young men have not only this frivolous ambition 
 of being thought masters of execution, inciting them 
 on one hand, but also their natural sloth tempting 
 them on the other. They are terrified at the prospect 
 before them of the toil required to attain exactness. 
 The impetuosity of youth is disgusted at the slow ap- 
 proaches of a regular siege, and desires, from mere 
 impatience of labour, to take the citadel by storm. 
 They wish to find some shorter path to excellence, and 
 hope to obtain the reward of eminence by other means 
 than those, which the indispensable rules of art have 
 prescribed. They must, therefore, be told again and 
 again, that labour is the only price of solid fame,, and 
 that whatever their force of genius may be, there is no 
 easy method of becoming a good Painter. 
 
THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 311 
 
 When we read the lives of the most eminent 
 Painters, every page informs us, that no part of their 
 time was spent in dissipation. Even an increase of 
 fame served only to augment their industry. To be 
 convinced with what persevering assiduity they pur- 
 sued their studies, we need only reflect on their me- 
 thod of proceeding in their most celebrated works. 
 When they conceived a subject, they first made a 
 variety of sketches ; then a finished drawing of the 
 whole ; after that a more correct drawing of every 
 separate part, — heads, hands, feet, and pieces of dra- 
 pery ; they then painted the picture, and after all, 
 retouched it from the life. The pictures, thus wrought 
 with such pains, now appear like the effect of enchant- 
 ment, and as if some mighty genius had struck them 
 off at a blow. 
 
 But, whilst diligence is thus recommended to the 
 Students, the Visiters will take care that their dili- 
 gence be effectual; that it be well directed, and em- 
 ployed on the proper object. A Student is not always 
 advancing because he is employed; he 1 must apply his 
 strength to that part of the art where the real diffi- 
 culties he; to that part which distinguishes it as a 
 liberal art ; and not by mistaken industry lose his time 
 in that which is merely ornamental. The Students, 
 instead of vying with each other which shall have the 
 readiest hand, should be taught to contend who shall 
 have the purest and most correct outline; instead of 
 striving which shall produce the brightest tint, or 
 curiously trilling, shall give the gloss of stuffs, so as 
 to appear real, let their ambition be directed co con- 
 tend, which shall dispose his drapery in the most grace- 
 ful folds, which shall give the most grace and dignity 
 to the human figure. 
 
 I must beg leave to submit one thing more to the 
 x 4 
 
312 
 
 THE FIRST DISCOURSE. 
 
 consideration of the Visiters, which appears to me a 
 matter of very great consequence, and the omission of 
 which I think a principal defect in the method of edu- 
 cation pursued in all the Academies I have ever visited. 
 The error I mean is, that the Students never draw ex- 
 actly from the living models which they have before 
 them. It is not, indeed, their intention, nor are they 
 directed to do it. Their drawings resemble the model 
 only in the attitude. They change the form according 
 to their vague and uncertain ideas of beauty, and make 
 a drawing rather of what they think the figure ought to 
 be, than of what it appears. I have thought this the 
 obstacle that has stopped the progress of many young 
 men of real genius ; and I very much doubt whether a 
 habit of drawing correctly what we see will not give 
 a proportionable power of drawing correctly what we 
 imagine. He who endeavours to copy nicely the 
 figure before him, not only acquires a habit of exact- 
 ness and precision, but is continually advancing in his 
 knowledge of the human figure; and though he seems 
 to superficial observers to make a slower progress, he 
 will be found at last capable of adding (without running 
 into capricious wildness) that grace and beauty which 
 is necessary to be given to his more finished works, 
 and which cannot be got by the moderns, as it was not 
 acquired by the ancients, but by an attentive and well 
 compared study of the human form. 
 
 "What I think ought to enforce this method is, that 
 it, has been the practice (as may be seen by their draw- 
 ings) of the great Masters in the Art. I will mention 
 a drawing of Raffaelle, The Dispute of the Sacrament, 
 the print of which, by Count Cailus, is in every hand. 
 It appears that he made his sketch from one model; 
 and the habit he had of drawing exactly from the form 
 before him appears by his making all the figures with 
 
THE FIKST DISCOURSE. 
 
 313 
 
 the same cap, such as his model then happened to 
 wear ; so servile a copyist was this great man, even at 
 a time when he was allowed to be at his highest pitch of 
 excellence. 
 
 I have seen also Academy figures by Annibale Caracci, 
 though he was often sufficiently licentious in his finished 
 works, drawn with all the peculiarities of an individual 
 model. 
 
 This scrupulous exactness is so contrary to the 
 practice of the Academies, that it is not without great 
 deference, that I beg leave to recommend it to the 
 consideration of the Visiters; and submit to them, 
 whether the neglect of this method is not one of the 
 reasons why Students so often disappoint expectation, 
 and, being more than boys at sixteen, become less than 
 men at thirty. 
 
 In short, the method I recommend can only be de- 
 trimental where there are but few living forms to copy ; 
 for then Students, by always drawing from one alone, 
 will by habit be taught to overlook defects, and mistake 
 deformity for beauty. But of this there is no danger : 
 since the Council has determined to supply the Aca- 
 demy with a variety of subjects ; and indeed those 
 laws which they have drawn up, and which the Se- 
 cretary will presently read for your confirmation, have 
 in some measure precluded me from saying more upon 
 this occasion. Instead, therefore, of offering my advice, 
 permit me to indulge my wishes, and express my hope, 
 that this Institution may answer the expectation of its 
 Royal Founder ; that the present age may vie in Arts 
 with that pf Leo the Tenth ; and that the dignity of the 
 dying Art (to make use of an expression of Pliny) maybe 
 revived under the Reign of GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
314 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribu- 
 tion of the Prizes, December 11. 1769. 
 
 THE COURSE AND ORDER OF STUDY. THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF 
 
 ART. MUCH COPYING DISCOUNTENANCED. THE ARTIST AT 
 
 ALL TIMES AND IN ALL PLACES SHOULD BE EMPLOYED IN LAY- 
 ING UP MATERIALS FOR THE EXERCISE OF HIS ART. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 I congratulate you on the honour which you hav» 
 just received. I have the highest opinion of your 
 merits, and could wish to show my sense of them in 
 something which possibly may be more useful to you 
 than barren praise. I could wish to lead you into such 
 a course of study as may render your future progress 
 answerable to your past improvement ; and, whilst ' I 
 applaud you for what has been done, remind you 
 how much yet remains to attain perfection. 
 
 I natter myself, that from the long experience I have 
 had, and the unceasing assiduity with which I have pur- 
 sued those studies, in which, like you, I have been en- 
 gaged, I shall be acquitted of vanity in offering some 
 hints to your consideration. They are, indeed, in a great 
 degree, founded upon my own mistakes in the same pur- 
 suit. But the history of errors, properly managed, often 
 shortens the iroad to truth. And although no method 
 of study, that I can offer, will of itself conduct to ex- 
 cellence, yet it may preserve industry from being mis- 
 applied. 
 
 In speaking to you of the Theory of the Art, I shall 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 315 
 
 only consider it as it has a relation to the method of your 
 studies. 
 
 Dividing the study of painting into three distinct 
 periods, I shall address you as having passed through 
 the first of them, which is confined to the rudiments ; 
 including a facility of drawing . any ohject that presents 
 itself, a tolerable readiness in the management of colours, 
 and an acquaintance with the most simple and obvious 
 rules of composition. 
 
 This first degree of proficiency is, in painting, what 
 grammar is in literature, a general preparation for what- 
 ever species of the art the student may afterwards choose 
 for his more particular application. The power of draw- 
 ing, modelling, and using colours, is very properly called 
 the Language of the Art ; and in this language, the 
 honours you have just received prove you to have made 
 no inconsiderable progress. 
 
 When the Artist is once enabled to express himself 
 with some degree of correctness, he must then en- 
 deavour to collect subjects for expression ; to amass a 
 stock of ideas, to be combined and varied as occasion 
 may require. He is now in the second period of study, 
 in which his business is to learn all that has been known 
 and done before his own time. Having hitherto received 
 instructions from a particular master, he is now to con- 
 sider the Art itself as his master. He must extend his 
 capacity to more sublime and general instructions. 
 Those perfections which he scattered among various 
 masters are now united in one general idea, which is 
 henceforth to regulate his taste, and enlarge his imagina- 
 tion. "With a variety of models thus before him, he will 
 avoid that narrowness and poverty of conception which 
 attends a bigoted admiration of a single master, and will 
 cease to follow any favourite where he ceases to excel. 
 This period is, however, still a time of subjection and 
 
316 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 discipline. Though the Student will not resign himself 
 blindly to any single authority, when he may have the 
 advantage of consulting many, he must still he afraid 
 of trusting his own judgment, and of deviating into 
 any track where he cannot find the footsteps of some 
 former master. 
 
 The third and last period emancipates the Student 
 from subjection to any authority, but what he shall 
 himself judge to be supported by reason. Confiding 
 now in his own judgment, he will consider and separate 
 those different principles to which different modes of 
 beauty owe their original. In the former period he 
 sought only to know and combine excellence, whereever 
 it was to be found, into one idea of perfection : in this 
 he learns, what requires the most attentive survey, and 
 the most subtle disquisition, to discriminate perfections 
 that are incompatible with each other. 
 
 He is from this time to regard himself as holding 
 the same rank with those masters whom he before 
 obeyed as teachers ; and as exercising a sort of sove- 
 reignty over those rules which have hitherto restrained 
 him. Comparing now no longer the performances of 
 Art with each other, but examining the Art itself by 
 the standard of nature, he corrects what is erroneous, 
 supplies what is scanty, and adds by his own observ- 
 ation what the industry of his predecessors may have 
 yet left wanting to perfection. Having well esta- 
 blished his judgment, and stored his memory, he may 
 now without fear try the power of his imagination. 
 The mind that has been thus disciplined may be 
 indulged in the warmest enthusiasm, and venture to 
 play on the borders of the wildest extravagance. The 
 habitual dignity which long converse with the greatest 
 minds has imparted to him will display itself in all his 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 317 
 
 attempts; and he will stand among his instructors, not 
 as an imitator, hut a rival. 
 
 These are the different stages of the Art. But as I 
 now address myself particularly to those Students 
 who have been 'this day rewarded for their happy 
 passage through the first period, I can with no pro- 
 priety suppose they want any help in the initiatory 
 studies. My present design is to direct your view to 
 distant excellence, and to show you the readiest path 
 that leads to it. Of this I shall speak with such lati- 
 tude, as may leave the province of the professor un- 
 invaded ; and shall not anticipate those precepts, which 
 it is his business to give, and your duty to under- 
 stand. 
 
 It is indisputably evident that a great Dart of every 
 man's life, must be employed in collecting materials 
 for the exercise of genius. Invention, strictly speak- 
 ing, is little more than a new combination of those 
 images which have been previously gathered and de- 
 posited in the memory : nothing can come of nothing : 
 he who has laid up no materials can produce no com, 
 binatipns. 
 
 A Student unacquainted with the attempts ot 
 former adventurers is always apt to over-rate his own 
 abilities; to mistake the most trifling excursions for 
 discoveries of moment, and every coast new to him 
 for anew-found country. If by chance he passes be- 
 yond his usual limits, he congratulates his own arrival 
 at those regions which they who have steered a better 
 course have long left behind them. 
 
 The productions of such minds are seldom distin- 
 guished by an air of originality : they are anticipated 
 in their happiest efforts; and if they are found to differ 
 in any thing from their predecessors, it is only in irre- 
 gular sallies and trifling conceits. The more exten- 
 
318 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 sive, therefore, your acquaintance is with the works of 
 those who have excelled, the more extensive will be 
 your powers of invention ; and what may appear still 
 more like a paradox, the more original will be your 
 conceptions. But the difficulty on this occasion is to 
 determine what ought to be proposed as models of 
 excellence, and who ought to be considered as the 
 properest guides. 
 
 To a young man just arrived in Italy, many of the 
 present painters of that country are ready enough to 
 obtrude their precepts, and to offer their own per- 
 formances as examples of that perfection which they 
 affect to recommend. The modern, however, who 
 recommends himself as a standard, may justly be sus- 
 pected as ignorant of the true end, and unacquainted 
 with the proper object, of the art which he professes. 
 To follow such a guide will not only retard the 
 Student, but mislead him. 
 
 On whom, then, can he rely, or who shall show him 
 ihe path that leads to excellence ? The answer is 
 obvious : those great masters who have travelled the 
 same road with success are the most likely to conduct 
 others. The works of those who have stood the test 
 of ages have a claim to that respect and veneration 
 to which no modem can pretend. The duration and 
 stability of their fame is sufficient to evince that it has 
 not been suspended upon the slender thread of fashion 
 and caprice, but bound to the human heart by every tie 
 of sympathetic approbation. 
 
 There is no danger of studying too much the works 
 of those great men : but how they may be studied to 
 advantage is an enquiry of great importance. 
 
 Some who have never raised their minds to the 
 consideration of the real dignity of the Art, and who 
 rate the works of an Artist in proportion as they excel 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 319 
 
 or are defective in the mechanical parts, look on 
 theorv as something that may enable them to talk but 
 not to paint better ; and, confining themselves entirely 
 to mechanical practice, very assiduously toil on in the 
 drudgery of copying, and think they make a rapid 
 progress while they faithfully exhibit the minutest 
 part of a favourite picture. This appears to me a very 
 tedious, and, I think, a very erroneous, method of pro- 
 ceeding. Of every large composition, even of those 
 which are most admired, a great part may be truly 
 said to be common-place. This, though it takes up 
 much time in copying, conduces little to improvement. 
 I consider general copying as a delusive kind of indus- 
 try : the Student satisfies himself with the appearance 
 of doing something ; he falls into the dangerous habit 
 of imitating without selecting, and of labouring without 
 any determinate object ; as it requires no effort of the 
 mind, he sleeps over his work : and those powers of in- 
 vention and composition which ought particularly to be 
 called out, and put in action, lie torpid, and lose their 
 energy for want of exercise. 
 
 How incapable those are of producing any thing of 
 their own, who have spent much of their time in making 
 finished copies, is well known to all who are conversant 
 with our art. 
 
 To suppose that the complication of powers, and 
 variety of ideas necessary to that mind which aspires 
 to the first honours in the Art of Painting, can be ob- 
 tained by the frigid contemplation of a few single 
 models, is no less absurd, than it would be in him who 
 wishes to be a poet, to imagine that by translating a 
 tragedy he can acquire to himself sufficient knowledge 
 of the appearances of nature, the operations of the 
 passions, and the incidents of life. 
 
 The great use in copying, if it be at all useful, 
 
320 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 should seem to be in learning to colour; yet even 
 colouring will never be perfectly attained by servilely 
 copying the model before .you. An eye critically nice 
 can only be formed by observing well- coloured pictures 
 with attention ; and by close inspection, and minute 
 examination, you will discover, at last, the manner of 
 handling, the artifices of contrast, glazing, and other 
 expedients by which good colourists have raised the 
 value of their tints, and by which nature has been so 
 happily imitated. 
 
 I must inform you, however, that old pictures, de- 
 servedly celebrated for their colouring, are often, so 
 changed by dirt and varnish that we ought not to won- 
 der if they do not appear equal to their reputation in 
 the eyes of unexperienced painters, or young Students. 
 An artist whose judgment is matured by long observa- 
 tion considers rather what the picture once was, than 
 what it is at present. He has by habit acquired a 
 power of seeing the brilliancy of tints through the 
 cloud by which it is obscured. An exact imitation, 
 therefore, of those pictures, is likely to fill the Student's 
 mind with false opinions, and to send him back a co- 
 lourist of his own formation, with ideas equally remote 
 from nature and from art, from the genuine practice 
 of the masters and the real appearances of things. 
 
 Following these rules, and using these precautions, 
 when you have clearly and distinctly learned in what 
 good colouring consists, you cannot do better than 
 have recourse to nature herself, who is always at hand, 
 and in comparison of whose true splendour the best 
 coloured pictures are but faint and feeble. 
 
 However, as the practice of copying is not entirelv 
 to be excluded, since the mechanical practice of 
 painting is learned in some measure by it, let those 
 choice parts only be selected which have repommended 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 321 
 
 the work to notice. If its excellence consists in its 
 general effect, it would be proper to make slight 
 sketches of the machinery and general management 
 of the picture. Those sketches should be kept always 
 by you for the regulation of your style. Instead of 
 copying the touches of those great masters, copy only 
 their conceptions. Instead of treading in their foot- 
 steps, endeavour only to keep the same road. Labour 
 to invent on their general principles and way of think- 
 ing. Possess yourself with their spirit. Consider with 
 yourself how a Michel Angelo or a Raffaelle would 
 have treated this subject; and work yourself into a 
 belief that your picture is to be seen and criticised by 
 them when completed. Even an attempt of this kind 
 will rouse your powers. 
 
 But as mere enthusiasm will carry you but a little 
 way, let me recommend a practice that may be equi- 
 valent to and will perhaps more efficaciously contri- 
 bute to your advancement, than even the verbal cor- 
 rections of those masters themselves, could they be 
 obtained. What I would propose is, that you should 
 enter into a kind of competition, by painting a similar 
 subject, and making a companion to any picture that 
 you consider as a model. After you have finished 
 your work, v 1 ' ce it near the model, and compare them 
 carefully toucher. You will then not only see but 
 feel your own deficiencies more sensibly than by pre- 
 cepts, or any other means of instruction. The true 
 principles of painting will mingle with your thoughts. 
 Ideas thus fixed by sensible objects will be certain 
 and definitive; and, sinking deep into the mind, will 
 not only be more just but more lasting than those 
 presented to you by precepts only, which will always 
 be fleeting, variable, and undetermined. 
 
 This method of comparing your own efforts with 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 those of some great master is indeed a severe and 
 mortifying task, to which none will submit but such as 
 have great views, with fortitude sufficient to forego 
 the gratifications of present vanity for future honour. 
 When the Student has succeeded in some measure to 
 his own satisfaction, and has felicitated himself on his 
 success, to go voluntary to a tribunal where he knows 
 his vanity must be humbled, and all self- approbation 
 must vanish, requires not only great resolution but 
 great humility. To him, however, who has the am- 
 bition to be a real master, the solid satisfaction which 
 proceeds from a consciousness of his advancement 
 (of which seeing his own faults is the first step) will 
 very abundantly compensate for the mortification of 
 present disappointment. There is, besides, this alle- 
 viating circumstance : every discovery he makes, every 
 acquisition of knowledge he attains, seems to proceed 
 from his own sagacity : and thus he acquires a con- 
 fidence in himself sufficient to keep up the resolution of 
 perseverance. 
 
 We all must have experienced how lazily, and, con- 
 sequently, how ineffectually, instruction is received 
 when forced upon the mind by others. Few have been 
 taught to any purpose who have not been their own 
 teachers. We prefer those instructions which we have 
 given ourselves, from our affection to the instructor ; 
 and they are more effectual, from being received into 
 the mind at the very time when it is most open and 
 eager to receive them. 
 
 With respect to the pictures that you are to choose 
 for your models, I could wish that you would take the 
 world's opinion rather than your own. In other words, 
 I would have you choose those of established reput- 
 ation rather than follow your own fancy. If you 
 should not admire them at first, you will, by endea- 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 323 
 
 vouring to imitate them, find that the world has not 
 been mistaken, 
 
 It is not an easy task to point out those variou 
 excellencies for your imitation which he distributed 
 amongst the various schools. An endeavour to do 
 this may, perhaps, be the subject of some future dis- 
 course. I will, therefore, at present, only recommend 
 a model for style in Painting, which is a branch of the 
 art more immediately necessary to the young Student. 
 Style in painting is the same as in writing, a power 
 over materials, whether words or colours, by which 
 conceptions or sentiments are conveyed. And in this 
 Ludovico Caracci (I mean his best works) appears 
 to me to approach the nearest to perfection. His un- 
 affected breadth of light and shadow, the simplicity of 
 colouring, which, holding its proper rank, does not 
 draw aside the least part of the attention from the 
 subject, and the solemn effect of that twilight which 
 seems diffused over his pictures, appear to me to cor- 
 respond with grave and dignified subjects, better than 
 the more artificial brilliancy of sunshine which en- 
 lightens the pictures of Titian ; though Tintoret thought 
 that Titian's colouring was the model of perfection, and 
 would correspond even with the sublime of Michel 
 Angelo ; and that if Angelo had coloured like Titian, or 
 Titian designed like Angelo, the world would once have 
 had a perfect painter. 
 
 It is our misfortune, however, that those works of 
 Caracci, which I would recommend to the Student, • are 
 not often found out of Bologna. The St. Francis in 
 the Midst of his Friars, The Transfiguration, The Birth 
 of St. John the Baptist, The Calling of St. Matthew, 
 the St. Jerome, The Fresco Paintings in the Zampieri 
 palace, are all worthy the attention of the Student. 
 And I think those who travel would do well to allot 
 v 2 
 
324 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 a much greater portion of their time to that city than it 
 has been hitherto the custom to bestow. 
 
 In this art, as in others, there are many teachers 
 who profess to show the nearest way to excellence; 
 and many expedients have been invented by which 
 the toil of study might be saved. But let no man be 
 seduced to idleness by specious promises. Excellence 
 is never granted to man, but as the reward of labour. 
 It argues, indeed, no small strength of mind to perse- 
 vere in habits of industry, without the pleasnre of 
 perceiving those advances ; which, like the band of a 
 clock, whilst they make hourly approaches to their 
 point, yet proceed so slowly as to escape observation. 
 A facility of drawing, like that of playing upon a mu- 
 sical instrument, cannot be acquired but by an infinite 
 number of acts. I need not, therefore, enforce by 
 many words the necessity of continual application; 
 nor tell you that the port-crayon ought to be for ever 
 in your hands. Various methods will occur to you by 
 which this power may be acquired. I would parti- 
 cularly recommend, that after your return from the 
 Academy (where I suppose your attendance to be 
 constant), you would endeavour to draw the figure by 
 memory. I will even venture to add, that by perse- 
 verance in this custom you will become able to draw 
 the human figure tolerably correct, with as little effort 
 of the mind as is required to trace with a pen the 
 letters of the alphabet. 
 
 That this facility is not unattainable some members 
 in this Academy give a sufficient proof. And be as- 
 sured, that, if this power is not acquired whilst you. are 
 young, there will be no time for it afterwards ; at least 
 the attempt will be attended with as much difficulty as 
 those experience who learn to read or write after they 
 have arrived at the age of maturity. 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 325 
 
 But while I mention the port-crayon as the Student's 
 constant companion, he mast still remember, that the 
 pencil is the instrument by which he must hope to 
 obtain eminence. What, therefore, I wish to impress 
 upon you is, that, whenever an opportunity offers, you 
 paint your studies instead of drawing them. This will 
 give you such a facility in using colours, that in time 
 they will arrange themselves under the pencil, even 
 without the attention of the hand that conducts it. If 
 one act excluded the other, this advice could net with 
 any propriety be given. But if Painting comprises 
 both drawing and colouring, and if by a short struggle 
 of resolute industry, the same expedition is attainable 
 in painting as in drawing on paper, I cannot see what 
 objection can justly be made to the practice, or whv 
 that should be done by parts which may be done all 
 together. 
 
 If we turn our eyes to the several Schools of Paint- 
 ing, and consider their respective excellencies, we 
 shall find that those who excel most in colouring pur- 
 sued this method. The Venetian and Flemish school's, 
 which owe much of their fame to colouring, have en- 
 riched the cabinets of the collectors of drawings with 
 very few examples. Those of Titian, Paul Veronese, 
 Tintoret, and the Bassans, are in general slight and 
 undetermined. Their sketches on paper are as rude 
 as their pictures are excellent in regard to harmonv 
 of colouring. Correggio and Baroccio have left few, if 
 any, finished drawings behind them. And in the 
 Flemish school, Rubens and Vandyck made their de- 
 signs for the most part either in colours or in chiaro- 
 oscuro. It is as common to find studies of the Venetian 
 and Flemish Painters on canvass as of the schools of 
 Rome and Florence on paper. Not but that many 
 finished drawings are sold under the names of those 
 y 3 
 
326 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 masters. Those, however, are undoubtedly the pro- 
 ductions either of engravers or their scholars, who 
 copied their works. 
 
 These instructions I have ventured to offer from my 
 own experience ; but as they deviate widely from re- 
 ceived opinions, I offer them with diffidence, and 
 when better are suggested shall retract them without 
 regret. 
 
 There is one precept, however, in which I shall only 
 be opposed by the vain, the ignorant, and the idle. I 
 am not afraid that I shall repeat it too often. You 
 must have no dependence on your own genius. If you 
 have great talents, industry will improve them : if you 
 have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their 
 deficiency. Nothing is denied to well-directed labour : 
 nothing is to be obtained without it. Not to enter into 
 metaphysical discussions on the nature or essence of 
 genius, I will venture to assert, that assiduity unabated 
 by difficulty, and a disposition eagerly directed to the 
 object of its pursuit, will produce effects similar to 
 those which some call the result of natural powers. 
 
 Though a man cannot at all times, and in all places, 
 paint or draw, yet the mind can prepare itself by lay- 
 ing in proper materials, at all times, and in all places. 
 Both Livy and Plutarch, in describing Philopcemen, 
 one of the ablest generals of antiquity, have given us a 
 striking picture of a mind always intent on its profes- 
 sion, and by assiduity obtaining those excellencies 
 which some all their fives vainly expect from nature. 
 I shall quote the passage in Livy at length, as it runs 
 parallel with the practice I would recommend to the 
 Painter, Sculptor and Architect. 
 
 " Philopcemen was a man eminent for his sagacity 
 and experience in choosing ground, and in leading 
 armies ; to which he formed his mind by perpetual me- 
 
THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 327 
 
 ditation, in times of peace as well as war. When, in 
 any occasional journey, he came to a strait, difficult 
 passage, if he was alone, he considered with himself, 
 and if he was in company he asked his friends, what it 
 would be best to do if in this place they had found an 
 enemy, either in the front or in the rear, on the one 
 side or on the other ? ' It might happen,' says he, ' that 
 the enemy to be opposed might come on drawn up in 
 regular lines, or in a tumultuous body formed only by 
 the nature of the place.' He then considered a little 
 what ground he should take ; what number of soldiers 
 he should use, and what arms he should give them ; 
 where he should lodge his carriages, his baggage, and 
 the defenceless followers of his camp ; how many 
 guards, and of what kind, he should send to defend 
 them : and whether it would be better to press forward 
 along the pass, or recover by retreat his former station • 
 he would consider likewise where his camp could most 
 commodiously be formed ; how much ground he should 
 enclose within his trenches ; where he should have the 
 convenience of water, and where he might find plenty 
 of wood and forage ; and when he should break up his 
 camp on the following day, through what road he could 
 most safely pass, and in what form he should dispose 
 his troops. With such thoughts and disquisitions he 
 had from his early years so exercised his mind, that 
 on these occasions nothing could happen which he had 
 not been already accustomed to consider." 
 
 I cannot help imagining that I see a promising young 
 Painter equally vigilant, whether at home or abroad, in 
 the streets or in the fields. Every object that presents 
 itself is to him a lesson. He regards all nature with 
 a view to his profession, and combines her beauties, or 
 corrects her defects. He examines the countenance 
 of men under the influence of passion ; and often 
 t 4 
 
328 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 catches the most pleasing hints from subjects of tur- 
 bulence or deformity. Even bad pictures themselves 
 supply him with useful documents ; and, as Lionardo 
 da Vinci has observed, he improves upon the fanciful 
 images that are sometimes seen in the fire, or are acci- 
 dentally sketched upon a discoloured wall. 
 
 The Artist who has his mind thus filled with ideas, 
 and his hand made expert by practice, works with ease 
 and readiness ; whilst he who would have you believe 
 that he is waiting for the inspirations of Genius, is in 
 reality at a loss how to begin ; and is at last delivered 
 of his monsters with difficulty and pain. 
 
 The well-grounded Painter, on the contrary, has only 
 maturely to consider his subject, and all the mechanical 
 parts of his art follow without his exertion. Conscious 
 of the difficulty of obtaining what he possesses, he 
 makes no pretensions to secrets, except those of closer 
 application. Without conceiving the smallest jealousv 
 against others, he is contented that all shall be as great 
 as himself who have undergone the same fatigue ; and 
 as his pre-eminence depends not upon a trick, he is 
 free from the painful suspicions of a juggler who lives 
 in perpetual fear lest his trick should be discovered. 
 
329 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribu- 
 tion of the Prizes, December 14. 1770. 
 
 THE GREAT LEADING PRINCIPLES OP THE GRAND STYLE. OF 
 
 BEAUTY. — THE GENUINE HABITS OF NATURE TO BE DISTIN- 
 GUISHED FROM THOSE OF FASHION. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 It is not easy to speak with propriety to so many 
 Students of different ages and different degrees of ad- 
 vancement. The mind requires nourishment adapted 
 to its growth ; and what may have promoted our earlier 
 efforts might retard us in our nearer approaches to 
 perfection. 
 
 The first endeavours of a young Painter, as I have 
 remarked in a former discourse, must he employed in 
 the attainment of mechanical dexterity, and confined 
 to the mere imitation of the object before him. Those 
 who have advanced beyond the rudiments, may, per- 
 haps, find advantage in reflecting on the advice which 
 I have likewise given them, when I recommended the 
 diligent study of the works of our great predecessors ; 
 but I at the same time endeavoured to guard them 
 against an implicit submission to the authority of any 
 one master however excellent, or, by a strict imitation 
 of his manner, precluding themselves from the abun- 
 dance and variety of Nature. I will now add, that 
 Nature herself is not to be too closely copied. There 
 are excellencies in the art of painting beyond what is 
 commonly called the imitation of Nature ; and these 
 excellencies I wish to point out. The Students who, 
 
330 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 having passed through the initiatory exercises, are 
 more advanced in the art, and who, sure of their hand, 
 have leisure to exert their understanding, must now be 
 told, that a mere copier of nature can never produce 
 any tiling great ; can never raise and enlarge the con- 
 ceptions, or warm the heart of the spectator. 
 
 The wish of the genuine Painter must be more ex- 
 tensive : instead of endeavouring to amuse mankind 
 with the minute neatness of his imitations, he must en- 
 deavour to improve them by the grandeur of his ideas ; 
 instead of seeking praise, by deceiving the superficial 
 sense of the spectator, he must strive for fame, by cap- 
 tivating the imagination. 
 
 The principle now laid down, that the perfection of 
 this art does not consist in mere imitation, is far from 
 being new or singular. It is, indeed, supported by the 
 general opinion of the enlightened part of mankind. 
 The poets, orators, and rhetoricians of antiquity, are 
 continually enforcing this position, — that all the arts re- 
 ceive their perfection from an ideal beauty, superior to 
 what is to be found in individual nature. They are ever 
 referring to the practice of the painters and sculptors of 
 their times, particularly Phidias (the favourite artist of 
 antiquity), to illustrate their assertions. As if they could 
 not sufficiently express their admiration of his genius by 
 what they knew, they have recourse to poetical enthu- 
 siasm : they call it inspiration ; a gift from heaven. The 
 xtist is supposed to have ascended the celestial regions, 
 to furnish his mind with this perfect idea of beauty. 
 " He," says Prochis*, " who takes for his model such 
 forms as Nature produces, and confines himself to an 
 exact imitation of them, will never attain to what is 
 perfectly beautiful. For the works of Nature are full 
 
 * Lib. 2. in Timseum Platonis, as cited by Junius de Pictura 
 Veterum. — B 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 331 
 
 of disproportion, and fall very short of the true stand- 
 ard of beauty. So that Phidias, when he formed his 
 Jupiter, did not copy any object ever presented to 
 his sight,, but contemplated only that image which 
 he had conceived in his mind from Homer's descrip- 
 tion." And thus Cicero, speaking of the same Phi- 
 dias: — "Neither did this artist," says he, "when 
 he carved the image of Jupiter or Minerva, set be- 
 fore him any one human figure, as a pattern, which 
 he was to copy; but having a more perfect idea of 
 beauty fixed in his mind, this is steadily contem- 
 plated, and to the imitation of this, all his skill and 
 labour were directed." 
 
 The Moderns are not less convinced than the An- 
 cients of this superior power existing in the art ; nor 
 less sensible of its effects. Every language has adopted 
 terms expressive of this excellence. The gusto grande 
 of the Italians, the beau ideal of the French, and the 
 great style, genius, and taste among the English, are. 
 but different appellations of the same thing. It is 
 this intellectual dignity, they say, that ennobles the 
 Painter's art; that lays the line between him and the 
 mere mechanic; and produces those great effects in 
 an instant, which eloquence and poetry, by slow and 
 repeated efforts, are scarcely able to attain. 
 
 Such is the warmth with which both the Ancients 
 and Moderns speak of this divine principle of the art ; 
 but, as I have formerly observed, enthusiastic admir- 
 ation seldom promotes knowledge. Though a Student 
 by such praise may have his attention roused, and a 
 desire excited, of running in this great career, yet it 
 is possible that what has been said to excite, may only 
 serve to deter him. He examines his own mind, and 
 perceives there nothing of that divine inspiration with 
 which he is told so many others have been favoured. 
 He never travelled to heaven to gather new ideas ; and 
 
332 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 he finds himself possessed of no other qualifications 
 than what mere common observation and a plain 
 understanding can confer. Thus he becomes gloomy 
 amidst the splendour of figurative declamation, and 
 thinks it hopeless to pursue an object which he sup- 
 poses out of the reach of human industry. 
 
 But on this, as upon many other occasions, we ought 
 to distinguish how much is to be given to enthusiasm, 
 and how much to reason. We ought to allow for, and 
 we ought to commend, that strength of vivid expres- 
 sion, which is necessary to convey, in its full force, the 
 highest sense of the most complete effect of ai;t ; 
 taking care, at the same time, not to lose in terms of 
 vague admiration that solidity and truth of principle 
 upon which alone we can reason, and may be enabled 
 to practise. 
 
 It is not easy to define in what this great style con- 
 sists ; nor to describe, by words, the proper means cf 
 acquiring it, if the mind of the Student should be at all 
 capable of such an acquisition. Could we teach taste 
 or genius by rules, they would be no longer taste and 
 genius. But though there neither are, nor can be, 
 any precise invariable rules for the exercise, or the ac- 
 quisition, of these great qualities, yet we may truly 
 say, that they always operate in proportion to our 
 attention in observing the works of Nature, to our 
 skill in selecting, and to our care in digesting, method- 
 ising, and comparing our observations. There are 
 many beauties in our art that seem, at first, to lie 
 without the reach of precept, and yet may easily be 
 reduced to practical principles. Experience is all in 
 all : but it is not every one who profits by experience ; 
 and most people err, not so much from want of capa- 
 city to find their object, as from not knowing what ob- 
 ject to pursue. This great ideal perfection arid beauty 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 333 
 
 are not to be sought in the heavens, but upon the 
 earth. They are about us, and upon every side of us. 
 But the power of discovering what is deformed in Na- 
 ture, or, in other words, what is particular and uncom- 
 mon, can be acquired only by experience ; and the 
 whole beauty and grandeur of the art consists, in my 
 opinion, in being able to get above all singular forms, 
 local customs, particularities, and details of every 
 kind. 
 
 All the objects which are exhibited to our view by 
 Nature, upon close examination will be found to have 
 their blemishes and defects. The most beautiful forms 
 have something about them like weakness, minuteness, 
 or imperfection. But it is not every eye that perceives 
 these blemishes. It must be an eye long used to the 
 contemplation and comparison of these forms; and 
 which, by a long habit of observing what any set of 
 objects of the same kind have in common, has acquired 
 the power of discerning what each wants in particular. 
 This long laborious comparison should be the first study 
 of the Painter who aims at the great style. By this 
 means, he acquires a just idea of beautiful forms ; he 
 corrects Nature by herself, her imperfect state by her 
 more perfect. His eye being enabled to distinguish the 
 accidental deficiencies, excrescences, and deformities of 
 things, from their general figures, he makes out an ab- 
 stract idea of their forms more perfect than any one 
 original ; and what may seem a paradox, he learns to 
 design naturally by drawing his figures unlike to any 
 one object. This idea of the perfect state of Nature, 
 which the Artist calls t&e Ideal beauty, is the great lead- 
 ing principle by which works of genius are con- 
 ducted. By this Phidias acquired his fame. He wrought 
 upon a sober principle what has so much excited the 
 enthusiasm of the world ; and by this method you, who 
 
334 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 have courage to tread the same path, may acquire equal 
 reputation. 
 
 This is the idea which has acquired, and which 
 seems to have a right to, the epithet of divine; as it 
 may be said to preside, like a supreme judge, over all 
 the productions of Nature, appearing to be possessed of 
 the will and intention of the Creator, as far as they 
 regard the external form of living beings. When a 
 man once possesses this idea in its perfection, there is 
 no danger but that he will be sufficiently warmed bv 
 it himself, and be able to warm and ravish every one 
 else. 
 
 Thus it is from a reiterated experience, and a close 
 comparison of the objects in Nature, that an artist be- 
 comes possessed of the idea of that central form, if I 
 may so express it, from which every deviation is de- 
 formity. But the investigation of this form, I grant, is 
 painful, and I know but of one method of shortening the 
 road ; this is, by a careful study of the works of the 
 ancient sculptors ; who, being indefatigable in the school 
 of nature, have left models of that perfect form behind 
 them, which an artist would prefer as supremely 
 beautiful, who had spent his whole life in that single 
 contemplation. But if industry carried them thus far, 
 may not you also hope for the same reward from the 
 same labour ? We have the same school opened to us 
 that was opened to them ; for Nature denies her instruc- 
 tions to none who desire to become her pupils. 
 
 This laborious investigation, I am aware, must ap- 
 pear superfluous to those who think every thing is to 
 be done by felicity and the powers of native genius. 
 Even the great Bacon treats with ridicule the idea of 
 confining proportion to rules, or of producing beauty 
 by selection. " A man cannot tell," says he, " whether 
 Apelles or Albert Durer were the more trifler : 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 335 
 
 whereof the one would make a personage by geo- 
 metrical proportions ; the other, by taking the best parts 
 out of divers faces, to make one excellent. . . .The 
 painter," he adds, " must do it by a kind of felicity. . . . 
 and not by rule."* 
 
 It is not safe to question any opinion of so great a 
 writer, and so profound a thinker, as undoubtedly 
 Bacon was. But he studies brevity to excess ; and 
 therefore his meaning is sometimes doubtful. If he 
 means that beauty has nothing to do with rule, he is 
 mistaken. There is a rule, obtained out of general 
 nature, to contradict which is to fall into deformity. 
 Whenever any thing is done beyond this rule, it is in 
 virtue of some other rule which is followed along with 
 it, but which does not. contradict it. Every thing 
 which is wrought with certainty, it is wrought upon some 
 principle. If is not, it cannot be repeated. If by 
 felicity is meant any thing of chance or hazard, or 
 something born with a man, and not earned, I cannot 
 agree with this great philosopher. Every object 
 which pleases must give us pleasure upon some certain 
 principles : but as the objects of pleasure are almost in- 
 finite, so their principles vary without end, and every 
 man finds them out, not by felicity or successful hazard, 
 but by care and sagacity. 
 
 To the principle I have laid down, that the idea of 
 beauty in each species of beings is an invariable one, 
 it may be objected, that in every particular species 
 there are various central forms, which are separate 
 and distinct from each other, and yet are undeniably 
 beautiful ; that in the human figure, for instance, the 
 beauty of Hercules is one, of the Gladiator another, of 
 the Apollo another; which makes so many different 
 ideas of beauty. 
 
 * Essays, p. 252. edit. 1625. 
 
336 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 It is true, indeed, that these figures are each perfect 
 in their kind, though of different characters and pro- 
 portions ; but still none of them is the representation 
 of an individual, but of a class. And as there is one 
 general form, which, as I have said, belongs to the 
 human kind at large, so in each of these classes there 
 is one common idea aim central form, which is the 
 abstract of the various individual forms belonging to 
 that class. Thus, though the forms of childhood and 
 age differ exceedingly, there is a common form in 
 childhood, and a common form in age, which is the 
 more perfect, as it is more remote from all peculiarities. 
 But I must add further, that though the most perfect 
 forms of each of the general divisions of the human 
 figure are ideal and superior to any individual form of 
 that class ; yet the highest perfection of the human 
 figure is not to be found in any one of them. It is not 
 in the Hercules, nor in the Gladiator, nor in the 
 Apollo ; but in that form which is taken from all, and 
 which partakes equally of the activity of the Gladiator, 
 of the delicacy of the Apollo, and of the muscular 
 strength of the Hercules. For perfect beauty in any 
 species must combine all the characters which are beauti- 
 ful in that species. It cannot consist in any one to the 
 exclusion of the rest : no one, therefore, must be pre- 
 dominant, that no one may be deficient. 
 
 The knowledge of these different characters, and the 
 power of separating and distinguishin|^ them, is un- 
 doubtedly necessary to the painter, who* is to vary 
 his compositions with figures of various forms and pro- 
 portions, though he is never to lose sight of the general 
 idea of perfection in each kind. 
 
 There is, likewise, a kind of symmetry, or pro- 
 portion, which may properly be said to belong to 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 337 
 
 deformity. A figure lean or corpulent, tall or short, 
 though deviating from beauty, may still have a certain 
 union of the various parts, which may contribute to 
 make them on the whole not unpleasing. 
 
 When the Artist has by diligent attention acquired 
 a clear and distinct idea of beauty and symmetry; 
 when he has reduced the variety of nature to the 
 abstract idea; his next task will be to become ac- 
 quainted with the genuine habits of nature, as dis- 
 tinguished from those of fashion. For in the same 
 manner, and on the same principles, as he has acquired 
 the knowledge of the real forms of nature, distinct from 
 accidental deformity, he must endeavour to separate 
 simple chaste nature, from those adventitious, those 
 affected and forced airs or actions, with which she is 
 loaded by modern education. 
 
 Perhaps I cannot better explain what I mean, than 
 by reminding you of what was taught us by the Pro- 
 fessor of Anatomy, in respect to the natural position 
 and movement of the feet. He observed, that the 
 fashion of turning them outwards was contrary to the 
 intent of nature, as might be seen from the structure 
 of the bones, and from the weakness that proceeded 
 from that manner of standing. To this we may add 
 the erect position of the head, the projection of the 
 chest, the walking with straight knees, and many such 
 actions, which we know to be merely the result of 
 fashion, and what nature never warranted, as we are sure 
 that we have been taught them when children. 
 
 I have mentioned but a few of those instances, in 
 which vanity or caprice have contrived to distort and 
 disfigure the human form; your own recollection will 
 add to these a thousand more of ill-understood me- 
 thods, which have been practised to disguise nature 
 
 VOL. I. z 
 
338 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 among our dancing-masters, hair- dressers, and tailors, in 
 their various schools of deformity,* 
 
 However the mechanic and ornamental arts may 
 sacrifice to Fashion, she must be entirely excluded from 
 the Art of Painting; the painter must never mistake 
 this capricious challenging for the genuine offspring of 
 nature ; he must divest himself of all prejudices in 
 favour of his age or country; he must disregard all 
 local and temporary ornaments, and look only on those 
 general habits which are every where and always the 
 same ; he addresses his works to the people of every 
 country and every age, he calls upon posterity to be 
 his spectators, and says, with Zeuxis, In ceternitatem 
 pingo. 
 
 The neglect of separating modern fashions from the 
 habits of nature, leads to that ridiculous style which 
 has been practised by some painters, who have given 
 to Grecian heroes the airs and graces practised in the 
 court of Louis XIV. ; an absurdity almost as great as 
 it would have been to have dressed them after the 
 fashion of that court. 
 
 To avoid this error, however, and to retain the true 
 simplicity of nature, is a task more difficult than at first 
 sight it may appear. The prejudices in favour of 
 the fashions and customs that we have been used to, 
 and which are justly called a second nature, make it 
 too often difficult to distinguish that which is natural 
 from that which is the result of education ; they fre- 
 quently even give a predilection in favour of the arti- 
 ficial mode ; and almost every one is apt to be guided 
 by those local prejudices, who has not chastised his 
 
 * "Those," says Quintilian, "who are taken with the outward 
 show of things, think that there is more beauty in persons, who 
 are trimmed, curled, and painted, than uncorrupt nature can 
 give; as if beauty were merely the effect of the corruption of 
 manners." — R 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 339 
 
 mind, and regulated the instability of his affections by 
 the eternal invariable idea of nature. 
 
 Here, then, as before, we must have recourse to the 
 Ancients as instructors. It is from a careful study of 
 their works that you will be enabled to attain to the 
 real simplicity of nature ; they will suggest many ob- 
 servations which would probably escape you, if your 
 study were confined to nature alone. And, indeed, I 
 cannot help suspecting, that, in this instance, the an- 
 cients had an easier task than the moderns. They 
 had, probably, little or nothing to unlearn, as their 
 manners were nearly approaching to this desirable 
 simplicity ; while the modern artist, before he can see 
 the truth of things, is obliged to remove a veil, with 
 which the fashion of the times has thought proper to 
 cover her. 
 
 Having gone thus far in our investigation of the 
 great style in painting ; if we now should suppose that 
 the artist has found the true idea of beauty, which 
 enables him to give his works a correct and perfect 
 design ; if we should suppose, also, that he has ac- 
 quired a knowledge of the unadulterated habits of 
 nature, which gives him simplicity ; the rest of his task 
 is, perhaps, less than is generally imagined. Beauty and 
 simplicity have so great a share in the composition of a 
 great style, that he who has acquired them has little else 
 to learn. It must not, indeed, be forgotten, that there 
 is a nobleness of conception, which goes beyond any 
 thing in the mere exhibition even of perfect form ; there 
 is an art of animating and dignifying the figures with in- 
 tellectual grandeur, of impressing the appearance of 
 philosophic wisdom, or heroic virtue. This can only be 
 acquired by him that enlarges the sphere of his under- 
 standing by a variety of knowledge, and warms his 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 imagination with the best productions of ancient and 
 modern poetry. 
 
 A hand thus exercised, and a mind thus instructed, 
 will bring the art to a higher degree of excellence than, 
 perhaps, it has hitherto attained in this country. Such 
 a student will disdain the humbler walks of painting, 
 which, however profitable, can never assure him a per- 
 manent reputation. He will leave the meaner artist 
 servilely to suppose that those are the best pictures, 
 which are most likely to deceive the spectator. He will 
 permit the lower painter, like the florist or collector of 
 shells, to exhibit the minute discriminations, which dis- 
 tinguish one object of the same species from another ; 
 while he, like the philosopher, will consider nature in the 
 abstract, and represent in every one of his figures the 
 character of its species. 
 
 If deceiving the eye were the only business of the 
 art, there is no doubt, indeed, but the minute painter 
 would be more apt to succeed ; but it is not the eye, it 
 is the mind which the painter of genius desires to 
 address; nor will he waste a moment upon those 
 smaller objects which only serve to catch the sense, to 
 divide the attention, and to counteract his great design 
 of speaking to the heart. 
 
 This is the ambition which I wish to excite in your 
 minds ; and the object I have had in my view, through- 
 out this discourse, is that one great idea which gives to 
 painting its true dignity, which entitles it to the name of 
 a liberal art, and ranks it as a sister of poetry. 
 
 It may possibly have happened to many young stu- 
 dents, whose application was sufficient to overcome all 
 difficulties, and whose minds were capable of embrac- 
 ing the most extensive views, that they have, by a 
 wrong direction originally given, spent their fives in 
 the meaner walks of Dainting, without ever knowing 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 341 
 
 there was a nobler to pursue. Albert Durer, as Vasari 
 has justly remarked, would probably have been one of 
 the first painters of his age (and he lived in an era of 
 great artists), had he been initiated into those great 
 principles of the art, which were so well understood 
 and practised by his contemporaries in Italy. But 
 unluckily having never seen nor heard of any other 
 manner, he, without doubt, considered his own as 
 perfect. 
 
 As for the various departments of painting, which 
 do not presume to make such high pretensions, they 
 are many. None of them are without their merit, 
 though none enter into competition with this universal 
 presiding idea of the art. The painters who have applied 
 themselves more particularly to low and vulgar cha- 
 acters, and who express with precision the various shades 
 of passion, as they are exhibited by vulgar minds 
 (such as we see in the works of Hogarth), deserve great 
 praise ; but as their genius has been employed on low 
 and confined subjects, the praise which we give must be 
 as limited as its object. The merrymaking or quarrell- 
 ing of the Boors of Teniers ; the same sort of produc- 
 tions of Brouwer or Ostade, are excellent in their kind ; 
 and the excellence and its praise will be in proportion, 
 as, in those limited subjects, and peculiar forms, they 
 introduce more or less of the expression of those 
 passions, as they appear in general and more enlarged 
 nature. This principle may be applied to the Battle- 
 pieces of Bourgognone, the French Gallantries of Wat- 
 teau, and even beyond the exhibition of animal life, to 
 the Landscapes of Claude Lorraine, and the Sea- Views 
 of Vandervelde. All these painters have, in general, 
 the same right, in different degrees, to the name of a 
 painter, which a satirist, an epigrammatist, a sonneteer, 
 z 3 
 
342 
 
 THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 a writer of pastorals, or descriptive poetry, has to that of 
 a poet. 
 
 In the same rank, and perhaps of not so great merit, 
 is the cold painter of portraits. But his correct and 
 just imitation of his object has its merit. Even the 
 painter of still life, whose highest ambition is to give 
 a minute representation of every part of those low ob- 
 jects which he sets before him, deserves praise in pro- 
 portion to his attainment; because no part of this 
 excellent art, so much the ornament of polished life, 
 is destitute of value and use. These, however, are 
 by no means the views to which the mind of the student 
 ought to be primarily directed. Having begun by 
 aiming at better things, if from particular inclination, 
 or from the taste of the time and place he lives in, or 
 from necessity, or from failure in the highest attempts, 
 he is obliged to descend lower, he will bring into the 
 lower sphere of art a grandeur of composition and 
 character, that will raise and ennoble his works far 
 above their natural rank. 
 
 A man is not weak, though he may not be able to 
 wield the club of Hercules ; nor does a man always 
 practice that which he esteems the best ; but does that 
 which he can best do. In moderate attempts there 
 are many walks open to the artist. But as the idea of 
 beauty is of necessity but one, so there can be but 
 one great mode of painting ; the leading principle of 
 which I have endeavoured to explain. 
 
 I should be sorry, if what is here recommended 
 should be at all understood to countenance a careless 
 or undetermined manner of painting. For, though 
 the painter is to overlook the accidental discriminations 
 of nature, he is to exhibit distinctly, and with pre- 
 cision, the general forms of things. A firm and de- 
 termined outline is one of the characteristics of the 
 
THE THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 343 
 
 great style in painting ; and, let me add, that he who 
 possesses the knowledge of the exact form which every 
 part of nature ought to have, will be fond of express- 
 ing that knowledge with correctness and precision in 
 all his works. 
 
 To conclude : I have endeavoured to reduce the 
 idea of beauty to general principles ; and I had the 
 pleasure to observe that the Professor of Painting 
 proceeded in the same method, when he showed you 
 that the artifice of contrast was founded but on one 
 principle. I am convinced that this is the only means 
 of advancing science ; of clearing the mind from a 
 confused heap of contradictory observations, that do 
 but perplex and puzzle the student, when he compares 
 them, or misguide him if he gives himself up to their 
 authority; bringing them under one general head, 
 can alone give rest and satisfaction to an inquisitive 
 mind. 
 
344 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribution 
 of the Prizes, December 10. 1771. 
 
 GENERAL IDEAS, THE PRESIDING PRINCIPLE WHICH REGULATES 
 EVERY PART OF ART ; INVENTION, EXPRESSION, COLOURING, AND 
 
 DRAPERY. TWO DISTINCT STYLES IN HISTORY-PAINTING; THE 
 
 GRAND, AND THE ORNAMENTAL. — THE SCHOOLS IN WHICH EACH 
 
 IS TO BE FOUND. THE COMPOSITE STYLE. — THE STYLE FORMED 
 
 ON LOCAL CUSTOMS AND HABITS, OR A PARTIAL VIEW OF 
 NATURE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 The value and rank of every art is in proportion to the 
 mental labour employed in it, or the mental pleasure 
 produced by it. As this principle is observed or 
 neglected, our profession becomes either a liberal art, 
 or a mechanical trade. In the hands of one man, it 
 makes the highest pretensions, as it is addressed to 
 the noblest faculties : in those of another, it is reduced 
 to a mere matter of ornament; and the painter has 
 but the humble province of furnishing our apartments 
 with elegance. 
 
 This exertion of mind, which is the only circum- 
 stance that truly ennobles our Art, makes the great 
 distinction between the Roman and Venetian schools. 
 I have formerly observed that perfect form is produced 
 by leaving out particularities, and retaining only ge- 
 neral ideas : I shall now endeavour to show that this 
 principle, which I have proved to be metaphysically 
 just, extends itself to every part of the Art; that it 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 345 
 
 gives what is called the grand style, to Invention, to 
 Composition, to Expression, and even to Colouring 
 and Drapery. 
 
 Invention, in Painting, does not imply the invention 
 of the subject, for that is commonly supplied by the 
 Poet or Historian. With respect to the choice, no 
 subject can be proper that is not generally interesting. 
 It ought to be either some eminent instance of heroic 
 action or heroic suffering. There must be something, 
 either in the action or in the object, in which men 
 are universally concerned, and which powerfully strikes 
 upon the public sympathy. 
 
 Strictly speaking, indeed, no subject can be of uni- 
 versal, hardly can it be of general, concern ; but there 
 are events and characters so popularly known in those 
 countries where our Art is in request, that they may 
 be considered as sufficiently general for all our pur- 
 poses. Such are the great events of Greek and Roman 
 fable and history, which early education, and the usual 
 course of reading, have made familiar and interesting to 
 all Europe, without being degraded by the vulgarism of 
 ordinary life in any country. Such, too, are the capital 
 subjects of Scripture history, which, beside their general 
 notoriety, become venerable by their connection with our 
 religion. 
 
 As it is required that the subject selected should 
 be a general one, it is no less necessary that it should 
 be kept unembarrassed with whatever may any way 
 serve to divide the attention of the spectator. When- 
 ever a story is related, every man forms a picture 
 in his mind of the action and expression of the persons 
 employed. The power of representing this mental 
 oicture on canvass is what we call invention in a Painter. 
 And as, in the conception of this ideal picture, the 
 mind does not enter into the minute peculiarities of 
 
346 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 the dress, furniture, or scene of action ; so, -when the 
 Painter comes to represent it, he contrives those little 
 necessary concomitant circumstances in such a manner, 
 that they shall strike the spectator no more than they did 
 himself in his first conception of the story. 
 
 I am very ready to allow, that some circumstances 
 of minuteness and particularity frequently tend to give 
 an air of truth to a piece, and to interest the spectator 
 in an extraordinary manner. Such circumstances, 
 therefore, cannot wholly be rejected : but if there be 
 any thing in the Art which requires peculiar nicety of 
 discernment, it is the disposition of these minute cir- 
 cumstantial parts ; which, according to the judgment 
 employed in the choice, become so useful to truth, or so 
 injurious to grandeur. 
 
 However, the usual and most dangerous error is 
 on the side of minuteness ; and, therefore, I think caution 
 most necessary where most have failed. The general 
 idea constitutes real excellence. All smaller things, 
 however perfect in their way, are to be sacrificed 
 without mercy to the greater. The Painter will not 
 enquire what things may be admitted without much 
 censure ; he will not think it enough to show that they 
 may be there ; he will show that they must be there ; 
 that their absence would render his picture maimed and 
 defective. 
 
 Thus, though to the principal group a second or 
 third be added, and a second and third mass of light, 
 care must be taken that these subordinate actions and 
 lights, neither each in particular, nor all together, come 
 into any degree of competition with the principal: 
 they should merely make a part of that whole which 
 would be imperfect without them. To every kind dL 
 painting this rule may be applied. Even in portraits, 
 the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 347 
 
 in taking the general air, than in observing the exact 
 similitude of every feature. 
 
 Thus figures must have a ground whereon to stand ; 
 thev must be clothed ; there must be a background ; 
 there must be light and shadow ; but none of these 
 ought to appear to have taken up any part of the art- 
 ist's attention. They should be so managed as not 
 even to catch that of the spectator. We know well 
 enough, when we analyze a piece, the difficulty and the 
 subtilty with which an artist adjusts the background 
 drapery, and masses of light ; we know that a con- 
 siderable part of the grace and effect of his picture de- 
 pends upon them ; but this art is so much concealed, 
 even to a judicious eye, that no remains of any of these 
 subordinate parts occur to the memory when the pic- 
 ture is not present. 
 
 The great end of the art is to strike the imagination. 
 The Painter, therefore, is to make no ostentation of the 
 means by which this is done ; the spectator is only to 
 feel the result in his bosom. An inferior artist is un- 
 willing that any part of his industry should be lost 
 upon the spectator. He takes as much pains to dis- 
 cover, as the greater artist does to conceal, the marks 
 of his subordinate assiduity. In works of the lower kind, 
 every thing appears studied, and encumbered; it is all 
 boastful art, and open affectation. The ignorant often 
 part from such pictures with wonder in their mouths 
 and indifference in their hearts. 
 
 But it is not enough in Invention that the Artist 
 should restrain and keep under all the inferior parts of 
 his subject; he must sometimes deviate from vulgar 
 and strict historical truth, in pursuing the grandeur of 
 his design. 
 
 How much the great style exacts from its professors 
 to conceive and represent their subjects in a poetical 
 
348 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 manner, not confined to mere matter of fact, may be 
 seen in the Cartoons of Raffaelle. In all the pictures 
 in which the painter has represented the apostles, he 
 has drawn them with great nobleness ; he has given 
 them as much dignity as the human figure is capable 
 of receiving; yet we are expressly told in Scripture 
 they had no such respectable appearance ; and of St. 
 Paul, in particular, we are told, by himself, that his 
 bodily presence was mean. Alexander is said to have 
 been of a low stature : a Painter ought not so to re- 
 present him. Agesilaus was low, lame, and of a mean 
 appearance : none of these defects ought to appear in 
 a piece of which he is the hero. In conformity to 
 custom, I call this part of the art History Painting ; 
 it ought to be called Poetical, as in reality it is. 
 
 All this is not falsifying any fact ; it is taking an 
 allowed poetical licence. A painter of portraits, retains 
 the individual likeness ; a painter of history, shows 
 the man by showing his action. A Painter must com- 
 pensate the natural deficiencies of his art. He has 
 but one sentence to utter, but one moment to exhibit. 
 He cannot, like the poet or historian, expatiate, and 
 impress the mind with great veneration for the cha- 
 racter of the hero or saint he represents, though he lets 
 us know, at the same time, that the saint was deformed, 
 or the hero lame. The painter has no other means of 
 giving an idea of the dignity of the mind, but by that 
 external appearance which grandeur of thought does 
 generally, though not always, impress on the counte- 
 nance ; and by that correspondence of figure to senti- 
 ment and situation, which all men wish, but cannot 
 command. The Painter who may in this one particular 
 attain with ease what others desire in vain, ought to 
 give all that he possibly can, since there are so many 
 circumstances of true greatness that he cannot give at 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 349 
 
 all. He cannot make his hero talk like a great man ; 
 he must make him look like one. For which reason 
 he ought to be well studied in the analysis of those 
 circumstances which constitute dignity of appearance in 
 real life. 
 
 As in Invention, so likewise in Expression, care 
 must be taken not to run into particularities. Those 
 expressions alone should be given to the figures which 
 their respective situations generally produce. Nor is 
 this enough ; each person should also have that ex- 
 pression which men of his rank generally exhibit. The 
 joy, or the grief, of a character of dignity is not to be 
 expressed in the same manner as a similar passion in 
 a vulgar face. Upon this principle, Bernini, perhaps, 
 may be subject to censure. This sculptor, in many 
 respects admirable, has given a very mean expression 
 to his statue of David, who is represented as just going 
 to throw the stone from the sling ; and, in order to give 
 it the expression of energy, he has made him biting 
 his under lip. This expression is far from being gene- 
 ral, and still farther from being dignified. He might 
 have seen it in an instance or two ; and he mistook 
 accident for generality. 
 
 With respect to Colouring, though it may appear at 
 first a part of painting merely mechanical, yet it still 
 has its rules, and those grounded upon that presiding 
 principles which regulates both the great and the little 
 in the study of a painter. By this, the first effect of 
 the picture is produced ; and as this is performed, the 
 spectator, as he walks the gallery, will stop, or pass 
 along. To give a general air of grandeur at first view, 
 all trifling, or artful play of little lights, or an attention 
 to a variety of tints, is' to be avoided ; a quietness and 
 simplicity must reign over the whole work; to which 
 a breadth of uniform and simple colour will very much 
 
350 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 contribute. Grandeur of effect is produced by two differ- 
 ent ways, which seem entirely opposed to each other. 
 One is, by reducing the colours to little more than 
 chiaro oscuro, which was often the practice of the 
 Bolognian schools; and the other, by making the 
 colours very distinct and forcible, such as we see in 
 those of Rome and Florence; but still, the presiding 
 principle of both those manners is simplicity. Cer- 
 tainly, nothing can be more simple than monotony; 
 and the distinct blue, red, and yellow colours which 
 are seen in the draperies of the Roman and Florentine 
 schools, though they have not that kind of harmony 
 which is produced by a variety of broken and trans- 
 parent colours, have that effect of grandeur which was 
 intended. Perhaps these distinct colours strike the 
 mind more forcibly, from there not being any great 
 union between them ; as martial music, which is intend- 
 ed to rouse the nobler passions, has its effect from the 
 sudden and strongly marked transitions from one note to 
 another which that style of music requires; whilst, in 
 that which is intended to move the softer passions, the 
 notes imperceptibly melt into one another. 
 
 In the same manner as the historical painter never 
 enters into the detail of colours, so neither does he 
 debase his conceptions with minute attention to the 
 discriminations of drapery. It is the inferior style 
 that marks the variety of stuffs. With him, the 
 clothing is neither woollen, nor linen, nor silk, satin, 
 or velvet : it is drapery ; it is nothing more. The art 
 of disposing the foldings of the drapery makes a very 
 considerable part of the painter's study. To make it 
 merely natural, is a mechanical operation, to which 
 neither genius nor taste are required; whereas, it re- 
 quires the nicest judgment to dispose the drapery, so 
 that the folds shall have an easy communication, and 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 351 
 
 gracefully follow each other, with such natural negligence 
 as to look like the effect of chance, and at the same time 
 show the figure under it to the utmost advantage. 
 
 Carlo Maratti was of opinion, that the disposition of 
 drapery was a more difficult art than even that of drawing 
 the human figure ; that a student might be more easily 
 taught the latter than the former; as the rules of 
 drapery, he said, could not be so well ascertained as 
 those for delineating a correct form. This, perhaps, is 
 a proof how willingly we favour our own peculiar ex- 
 cellence. Carlo Maratti is said to have valued himself 
 particularly upon his skill in this part of his art ; yet in 
 him, the disposition appears so ostentatiously artificial, 
 that he is inferior to Raffaelle, even in that which gave 
 him his best claim to reputation. 
 
 Such is the great principle by which we must be 
 directed in the nobler branches of our art. Upon this 
 principle, the Roman, the Florentine, the Bolognese 
 schools, have formed their practice; and by this they 
 have deservedly obtained the highest praise. These 
 are the three great schools of the world in the 
 epic style. The best of the French school, Poussin, 
 Le Sueur, and Le Brun, have formed themselves upon 
 these models, and consequently may be said, though 
 Frenchmen, to be a colony from the Roman school. 
 Next to these, but in a very different style of excel- 
 lence, we may rank the Venetian, together with the 
 Flemish and the Dutch schools ; all professing to depart 
 from the great purposes of painting, and catching at 
 applause by inferior qualities. 
 
 I am not ignorant that some will censure me for 
 placing the Venetians in this inferior class, and many 
 of the wannest admirers of painting will think them 
 unjustly degraded; but I wish not to be misunder- 
 stood. Though I can by no means allow them to 
 
352 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 hold any rank with the nobler schools of painting, they 
 accomplished perfectly the thing they attempted. But 
 as mere elegance is their principal object, as they 
 seem more willing to dazzle than to affect, it can be 
 no injury to them to suppose that their practice is 
 useful only to its proper end. But what may heighten 
 the elegant may degrade the sublime. There is a 
 simplicity, and, I may add, severity, in the great manner, 
 which is, I am afraid, almost incompatible with this 
 comparatively sensual style. 
 
 Tintoret, Paul Veronese, and others of the Venetian 
 school, seem to have painted with no other purpose 
 than to be admired for their skill and expertness in 
 the mechanism of painting, and to make a parade of 
 that art, which, as I before observed, the higher style 
 requires its followers to conceal. 
 
 In a conference of the French Academy, at which 
 were present Le Brun, Sebastian Bourdon, and all 
 the eminent Artists of that age, one of the Aca- 
 demicians desired to have their opinion on the con- 
 duct of Paul Veronese, who, though a painter of great 
 consideration, had, contrary to the strict rules of art, 
 in his picture of Perseus and Andromeda, represented 
 the principal figure in shade. To this question no 
 satisfactory answer was then given. But I will ven- 
 ture to say, that, if they had considered the class of 
 the Artist, and ranked him as an ornamental Painter, 
 there would have been no difficulty in answering — 
 " It was unreasonable to expect what was never in- 
 tended. His intention was solely to produce an effect 
 of light and shadow ; every thing was to be sacrificed 
 to that intent, and the capricious composition of that 
 picture suited very well with the style which he 
 professed." 
 
 Young minds are indeed too apt to be captivated 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 363 
 
 by this splendour of style ; and that of the Venetians 
 is particularly pleasing ; for by them, all those parts of 
 the Art that gave pleasure to the eye or sense, have 
 been cultivated with care, and carried to the degree 
 nearest to perfection. The powers exerted in the me- 
 chanical part of the Art have been called the language 
 of Painters ; but we may say, that it is but poor elo- 
 quence which only shows that the orator can talk. 
 Words should be employed as the means, not as the 
 end : language is the instrument, conviction is the 
 work. 
 
 The language of Painting must indeed be allowed 
 these masters ; but even in that, they have shown more 
 copiousness than choice, and more luxuriancy than 
 judgment. If we consider the uninteresting subjects 
 of their invention, or at least the uninteresting manner 
 in which they are treated ; if we attend to their capri- 
 cious composition, their violent and affected contrasts, 
 whether of figures or of light and shadow, the richness 
 of their drapery, and, at the same time, the mean effect 
 which the discrimination of stuffs gives to their pic- 
 tures ; if to these we add their total inattention to 
 expression ; and then reflect on the conceptions and 
 the learning of Michel Angelo, or the simplicity of 
 Rafaelle, we can no longer dwell on the comparison. 
 Even in colouring, if we compare the quietness and 
 chastity of the Bolognese pencil to the bustle and tumult 
 that fills every part of a Venetian picture, without the 
 least attempt to interest the passions, their boasted 
 art will appear a mere struggle without effect; a tale 
 told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying 
 nothing. 
 
 Such as suppose that the great style might happtfy 
 be blended with the ornamental, that the simple, grave, 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
354 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 and majestic dignity of Rafaelle could unite with ths 
 glow and bustle of a Paolo, or Tintoret, are totally 
 mistaken. The principles by which each is attained 
 are so contrary to each other, that they seem, in my 
 opinion, incompatible, and as impossible to exist to- 
 gether, as that in the mind the most sublime ideas 
 and the lowest sensuality should at the same time be 
 united. 
 
 The subjects of the Venetian Painters are mostly 
 such as give them an opportunity of introducing a 
 great number of figures ; such as feasts, marriages, and 
 processions, public martyrdoms, or miracles. I can 
 easily conceive that Paul Veronese, if he were asked, 
 would say, that no subject was proper for an historical 
 picture, but such as admitted at least forty figures ; 
 for in a less number, he would assert, there could be 
 no opportunity of the Painter's showing bis art in 
 composition, his dexterity of managing and disposing 
 the masses of light and groups of figures, and of in- 
 troducing a variety of Eastern dresses and characters in 
 their rich stuffs. 
 
 But the thing is very different with a pupil of the 
 greater schools. Annibale Caracci thought twelve 
 figures sufficient for any story ; he conceived that 
 more would contribute to no end but to fill space ; 
 that they would be but cold spectators of the general 
 action, or, to use his own expression, that they would 
 be. figures to be let. Besides, it is impossible for a 
 picture composed of so many parts to have that effect 
 so indispensably necessary to grandeur, that of one 
 complete whole. However contradictory it may be 
 in geometry, it is true in taste, that many little things 
 will not make a great one. The Sublime impresses 
 the mind at once with one great idea ; it is a single 
 low : the Elegant, indeed, may be produced by re- 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 355 
 
 petition ; by an accumulation of many minute circum- 
 stances. 
 
 However great the difference is between the com- 
 position of the Venetian and the rest of the Italian 
 schools, there is full as great a disparity in the effect 
 of their pictures as produced by colours. And though 
 in this respect the Venetians must be allowed extra- 
 ordinary skill, yet even that skill, as they have em- 
 ployed it, will but ill correspond with the great style. 
 Their colouring is not only too brilliant, but, I will 
 venture to say, too harmonious, to produce that so- 
 lidity, steadiness, and simplicity of effect, which heroic 
 subjects require, and which simple or grave colours 
 only can give to a work. That they are to be cau- 
 tiously studied by those who are ambitious of treading 
 the great walk of history, is confirmed, if it wants con- 
 firmation, by the greatest of all authorities, Michel 
 Angel o. This wonderful man, after having seen a 
 picture by Titian, told Vasari, who accompanied him,* 
 " that he liked much his colouring and manner; " but 
 then he added, " that it was a pity the Venetian 
 painters did not learn to draw correctly in their early 
 youth, and adopt a better manner of study." 
 
 By this it appears, that the principal attention of 
 the Venetian painters, in the opinion of Michel An- 
 gelo, seemed to be engrossed by the study of colours, 
 to the neglect of the ideal beauty of form, or propriety 
 of expression. But if general censure was given to 
 that school from the sight of a picture of Titian, how 
 much more heavily and more justly would the censure 
 fall on Paolo Veronese, and more especially on Tin- 
 
 * Dicendo, che molto gli piaceva il colorito suo, e la maniera ; 
 ma che ei& un peccato, che a Venezia non s'imparasse da principio 
 a disegnare bene, e che non havessano que' pittori miglior modo 
 nello studio. — Vas. torn. iii. p. 226. Vita di Tiziano. 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 toret ? And here I cannot avoid citing Vasari's opi- 
 nion of the style and manner of Tintoret. "Of all 
 the extraordinary geniuses,"* says he, " that have 
 practised the art of painting, for wild, capricious, 
 extravagant, and fantastical inventions, for furious 
 impetuosity and boldness in the execution of his 
 work, there is none like Tintoret ; his strange whim- 
 sies are even beyond extravagance ; and his works 
 seems to be produced rather by chance, than in con- 
 sequence of any previous design, as if he wanted to 
 convince the world that the art was a trifle, and of 
 the most easy attainment." 
 
 For my own part, when I speak of the Venetian 
 painters, I wish to be understood to mean Paolo Ve- 
 ronese and Tintoret, to the exclusion of Titian : for 
 though his style is not so pure as that of many other 
 of the Italian Schools, yet there is a sort of senatorial 
 dignity about him, which, however awkward in his 
 imitators, seems to become him exceedingly. His 
 portraits alone, from the nobleness and simplicity of 
 character which he always gave them, will entitle him 
 to the greatest respect, as he undoubtedly stands in 
 the first rank in this branch of the art. 
 
 It is not with Titian, but with the seducing qualities 
 of the two former, that I could wish to caution you 
 against being too much captivated. These are the 
 persons who may be said to have exhausted all the 
 powers of florid eloquence, to debauch the young and 
 
 * Nelle cose della pittura, stravagante, capriccioso, presto, e 
 resoluto, et il piu terrible cervello, che habbia havuto mai la pit- 
 tura, come si pu6 vedere in tutte le sue opere ; e ne' componimenti 
 delle storie, fantastiche, e fatte da lui diversamente, e fuori dell' 
 uso degli altri pittori : anzi ha superato la stravaganza, con le 
 nuove, e capricciose inventioni, e strani ghiribizzt del suo intelletc, 
 che ha lavorato a caso, e senza diseg no. quasi nonstrando che quest' 
 arte e una baia. 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 357 
 
 unexperienced: and have, without doubt, been the 
 cause of turning off the attention of the connoisseur 
 and of the patron of art, as well as that of the painter, 
 from those higher excellencies of which the art is 
 capable, and which ought to be required in every con- 
 siderable production. By them, and their imitators, 
 a style merely ornamental has been disseminated 
 throughout all Europe. llubens carried it to Flan- 
 ders ; Voet to France ; and Lucca Giordano to Spain 
 and Naples. 
 
 The Venetian is indeed the most splendid of the 
 schools of elegance ; and it is not without reason that 
 the best performances in this lower school are valued 
 higher than the second-rate performances of those 
 above them ; for every picture has value when it has 
 a decided character, and is excellent in its kind. But 
 the student must take care not to be so much dazzled 
 with this splendour, as to be tempted to imitate what 
 must ultimately lead from perfection. Poussin, whose 
 eye was always steadily fixed on the sublime, has been 
 often heard to say, "That a particular attention to 
 colouring was an obstacle to the student, in his pro- 
 gress to the great end and design of the art; and 
 that he who attaches himself to this principal end, 
 will acquire by practice a reasonably good method of 
 colouring."* 
 
 Though it be allowed that elaborate harmony of 
 colouring, a brilliancy of tints, a soft and gradual trans- 
 ition from one to another, ' present to the eye, what 
 an harmonious concert of music does to the ear, it 
 must be remembered, that painting is not merely a 
 
 * Que cette application singuleire n'etoit, qu'un obstacle pour 
 empecher de parvenir au veritable but de la peinture, et ceiui qui 
 s'attache au principal, acquiert par la pratique une assez belle 
 iraniere de peindre. — Conference de l'Acad. Franc. 
 
 A A 3 
 
358 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 gratification of the sight. Such excellence, though 
 properly cultivated, where nothing higher than ele- 
 gance is intended, is weak and unworthy of regard, 
 when the work aspires to grandeur and sublimity. 
 
 The same reasons that have been urged to show 
 that a mixture of the Venetian style cannot improve 
 the great style, will hold good in regard to the Flemish 
 and Dutch schools. Indeed the Flemish school, of 
 which Rubens is the head, was formed upon that of 
 the Venetian ; like them, he took his figures too much 
 from the people before him. But it must be allowed 
 in favour of the Venetians, that he was more gross 
 than they, and carried all their mistaken methods to a 
 far greater excess. In the Venetian school itself, 
 where they all err from the same cause, there is a 
 difference in the effect. The difference between Paolo 
 and Bassano seems to be only, that one introduced 
 Venetian gentlemen into his pictures, and the other 
 the boors of the district of Bassano, and called them 
 patriarchs and prophets. 
 
 The painters of the Dutch school have still more 
 locality. With them, a history-piece is properly a 
 portrait of themselves ; whether they describe the 
 inside or outside of their houses, we have their own 
 people engaged in their own peculiar occupations ; 
 working or drinking, playing or fighting. The circum- 
 stances that enter into a picture of this kind, are so 
 far from giving a general view of human life, that they 
 exhibit all the minute particularities of a nation dif- 
 fering in several respects from the rest of mankind. 
 Yet, let them have their share of more humble praise. 
 The painters of this school are excellent in their own 
 way ; they are only ridiculous when they attempt ge- 
 neral history on their own narrow principles, and debase 
 great events by the meanness of their characters. 
 
 Some inferior dexterity, some extraordinary me- 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 359 
 
 chanical power is apparently that from which they 
 seek distinction. Thus, we see, that school alone has 
 the custom of representing candle-light not as it really 
 appears to us by night, but red, as it would illuminate 
 objects to a spectator by day. Such tricks, however 
 pardonable in the little style, where petty effects are the 
 sole end, are inexcusable in the greater, where the atten- 
 tion should never be drawn aside by trifles, but should be 
 entirely occupied by the subject itself. 
 
 The same local principles which characterise the 
 Dutch school extend even to their landscape painters ; 
 and Rubens himself, who has painted many landscapes, 
 has sometimes transgressed in this particular. Their 
 pieces in this way are, I think, always a representation 
 of an individual spot, and each in its kind a very faithful 
 but a very confined portrait. Claude Lorrain, on the 
 contrarv, was convinced, that taking nature as he found 
 it seldom produced beauty. His pictures are a com- 
 position of the various draughts which he had pre- 
 viously made from various beautiful scenes and pros- 
 pects. However, Rubens in some measure has made 
 amends for the deficiency with which he is charged; 
 he has contrived to raise and animate his otherwise 
 uninteresting views, by introducing a rainbow, storm, 
 or some particular accidental effect of light. That the 
 practice of Claude Lorrain, in respect to his choice, 
 is to be adopted by Landscape-painters in opposition 
 to that of the Flemish and Dutch schools, there can 
 be no doubt, as its truth is founded upon the same 
 principle as that by which the Historical Painter ac- 
 quires perfect form. But whether landscape painting 
 has a right to aspire so far as to reject what the 
 painters call Accidents of Nature, is not easy to de- 
 termine. It is certain Claude Lorrain seldom, if ever, 
 availed himseif of those accidents ; either he thought 
 a a 4 
 
360 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 that such peculiarities were contrary to that style of 
 general nature which he professed, or that it would 
 catch the attention too strongly, and destroy that quiet- 
 ness and repose which he thought necessary to that 
 kind of painting. 
 
 A Portrait-painter likewise, when he attempts his- 
 tory, unless he is upon his guard, is likely to enter too 
 much into the detail. He too frequently makes his 
 historical heads look like portraits ; and this was once 
 the custom amongst those old painters, who revived 
 the art before general ideas were practised or under- 
 stood. A History-painter paints man in general ; a Por- 
 trait-painter, a particular man, and consequently a de- 
 fective model. 
 
 Thus an habitual practice in the lower exercises of 
 the art will prevent many from attaining the greater. 
 But such of us who move in these humbler walks of 
 the profession, are not ignorant that, as the natural 
 dignity of the subject is less, the more all the little 
 ornamental helps are necessary to its embellishment. 
 It would be ridiculous for a painter of domestic scenes, 
 of portraits, landscapes, animals, or still life, to say 
 that he despised those qualities which has made the 
 subordinate schools so famous. The art of colouring, 
 and the skilful management of light and shadow, are 
 essential requisites in his confined labours. If we 
 descend still lower, what is the painter of fruit and 
 flowers without the utmost art in colouring, and what 
 the painters call handling ; that is, a lightness of pencil 
 that implies great practice, and gives the appearance 
 of being done with ease ? Some here, I believe, must 
 remember a flower-painter whose boast it was, that he 
 scorned to paint for the million : no, he professed to 
 paint in the true Italian taste ; and, despising the 
 crowd, called strenuously upon the few to admire him. 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 361 
 
 His idea of the Italian taste was to paint as black and 
 dirty as he could, and to leave all clearness and bril- 
 liancy of colouring to those who were fonder of money 
 than immortality. The consequence was such as might 
 be expected. For these petty excellencies are here 
 essential beauties ; and without this merit the artist's 
 work will be more short-lived than the objects of his 
 imitation. 
 
 From what has been advanced, we must now be con- 
 vinced that there are two distinct styles in history-paint- 
 ing : the grand, and the splendid or ornamental. 
 
 The great style stands alone, and does not require, 
 perhaps does not so well admit, any addition from in- 
 ferior beauties. The ornamental style also possesses 
 its own peculiar merit. However, though the union 
 of the two may make a sort of composite style, yet that 
 style is likely to be more imperfect than either of those 
 which go to its composition. Both kinds have merit, 
 and may be excellent though in different ranks, if uni- 
 formity be preserved, and the general and particular 
 ideas of nature be not mixed. Even the meanest of 
 them is difficult enough to attain ; and the first place 
 being already occupied by the great artists in each 
 department, some of those who followed thought there 
 was less room for them ; and feeling the impulse of 
 ambition and the desire of novelty, and being at the 
 same time, perhaps, willing to take the shortest way, 
 endeavoured to make for themselves a place between 
 both. This they have effected by forming an union of 
 the different orders. But as the grave and majestic 
 style would suffer by an union with the florid and gay, 
 so also has the Venetian ornament in some respect been 
 injured by attempting an alliance with simplicity. 
 
 It may be asserted, that the great style is always 
 more or less contaminated by any meaner mixture. 
 
362 
 
 THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 But it happens in a few instances that the lower may 
 be improved by borrowing from the grand. Thus if a 
 portrait-painter is desirous to raise and improve his 
 subject, he has no other means than by approaching it 
 to a general idea. He leaves out all the minute breaks 
 and peculiarities in the face, and changes the dress 
 from a temporary fashion to one more permanent, 
 which has annexed to it no ideas of meanness from its 
 being familiar to us. But if sn exact resemblance of 
 an individual be considered as the sole object to be 
 aimed at, the portrait-painter will be apt to loee more 
 than he gains by the acquired dignity taken from 
 general nature. It is very difficult to ennoble the 
 character of a countenance but at the expense of the 
 likeness, which is what is most generally required by 
 such as sit to the painter. 
 
 Of those who have practised the composite style, 
 and have succeeded in this perilous attempt, perhaps 
 the foremost is Correggio. His style is founded upon 
 modern grace and elegance, to which is superadded 
 something of the simplicity of the grand style. A 
 breadth of light and colour, the general ideas of the 
 drapery, an uninterrupted flow of outline, all conspire 
 to this effect. Next to him (perhaps equal to him), 
 Parmegiano has dignified the genteelness of modern 
 effeminacy, by uniting it with the simplicity of the 
 ancients and the grandeur and severity of Michel 
 Angelo. It must be confessed, however, that these 
 two extraordinary men, by endeavouring to give the 
 utmost degree of grace, have sometimes perhaps ex- 
 ceeded its boundaries, and have fallen into the most 
 hateful of all hateful qualities — affectation. Indeed, 
 it is the peculiar characteristic of men of genius to be 
 afraid of coldness and insipidity, from which they think 
 they never can be too far removed. It particularly 
 
THE FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 363 
 
 happens to these great masters of grace and elegance. 
 They often boldly drive on to the very verge of ridicule ; 
 the spectator is alarmed, but at the same time admires 
 their vigour and intrepidity : — 
 
 Strange graces still, and stranger flights they had, 
 
 Yet ne'er so sure our passion to create, 
 
 As when they touch'd the brink of all we hate. 
 
 The errors of genius, however, are pardonable, and 
 none even of the more exalted painters are wholly free 
 from them; but they have taught us, by the rectitude 
 of their general practice, to Correct their own affected 
 or accidental deviation. The very first have not been 
 always upon their guard, and perhaps there is not a 
 fault but what may take shelter under the most vene- 
 rable authorities ; yet that style only is perfect, in 
 which the noblest principles are uniformly pursued ; 
 and those masters only are entitled to the first rank in 
 our estimation who have enlarged the boundaries of 
 their art, and have raised it to its highest dignity, by 
 exhibiting the general ideas of nature. 
 
 On the whole, it seems to me that there is but one 
 presiding principle which regulates and gives stability 
 to every art. The works, whether of poets, painters, 
 moralists, or historians, which are built upon general 
 nature, live for ever; while those which depend for 
 their existence on particular customs and habits, a 
 partial view of nature, or the fluctuation of fashion, can 
 only be coeval with that which first raised them from 
 obscurity. Present time and future may be considered 
 as rivals; and he who solicits the one must expect to 
 be discountenanced by the other. 
 
364 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribution 
 of the Prizes, December 10. 1772. 
 
 CIRCUMSPECTION REQUIRED IN ENDEAVOURING TO UNITE CONTRARY 
 EXCELLENCIES. — THE EXPRESSION OF A MIXED PASSION NOT TO 
 
 BE ATTEMPTED. EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO EXCELLED IN THE 
 
 GREAT STYLE.— RAFFAELLE, MICHEL ANGELO, THOSE TWO EX- 
 TRAORDINARY MEN COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER.— THE CHA- 
 RACTERI8TICAL STYLE.— SALVATOR ROSA MENTIONED AS AN EX- 
 AMPLE OF THAT STYLE ; AND OPPOSED TO CARLO MARATTI. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE CHARACTERS OF POUSSIN AND RUBENS. THESE 
 TWO PAINTERS ENTIRELY DISSIMILAR, BUT CONSISTENT WITH 
 
 THEMSELVES THIS CONSISTENCY REQUIRED IN ALL PARTS OF 
 
 THE ART. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 I purpose to carry on in this discourse the subject 
 which I began in my last. It was my wish upon that 
 occasion to incite you to pursue the higher excellencies 
 of the art. But I fear that in this particular I have 
 been misunderstood. Some are ready to imagine, wh£n 
 any of their favourite acquirements in the art are 
 properly classed, that they are utterly disgraced. This 
 is a very great mistake: nothing has its proper lustre 
 but in its proper place. That which is most worthy 
 of esteem in its allotted sphere, becomes an object, 
 not of respect, but of derision, when it is forced into a 
 higher, to which it is not suited ; and there it becomes 
 doubly a source of disorder, by occupying a situation 
 which is not natural to it, and by putting down from 
 the first place what is in reality of too much magnitude 
 to become with grace and proportion that subordinate 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 365 
 
 station, to which something of less value would be 
 much better suited. 
 
 My advice, in a word, is this : — Keep your principal 
 attention fixed upon the higher excellencies. If you 
 compass them, and compass nothing more, you are still 
 in the first class. We may regret the innumerable 
 beauties which you may want ; you may be very im- 
 perfect : but still you are an imperfect artist of the 
 highest order. 
 
 If when you have got thus far, you can add any, or 
 all, of the subordinate qualifications, it is my wish and 
 advice that you should not neglect them. But this is 
 as much a matter of circumspection and caution at least, 
 as of eagerness and pursuit. 
 
 The mind is apt to be distracted by a multiplicity of 
 objects ; and that scale of perfection which I wish 
 always to be preserved, is in the greatest danger of 
 being totally disordered, and even inverted. 
 
 Some excellencies bear to be united, and are im- 
 proved by union ; others are of a discordant nature ; 
 and the attempt to join them, only produces a harsh 
 jarring of incongruent principles. The attempt to 
 unite contrary excellencies (of form, for instance) in a 
 single figure, can never escape degenerating into the 
 monstrous, but by sinking into the insipid ; by taking 
 away its marked character, and weakening its expres- 
 sion. 
 
 This remark is true to a certain degree with regard to 
 the passions. If you mean to preserve the most perfect 
 beauty in its most perfect state, you cannot express the 
 passions, all of which produce distortion and deformity, 
 more or less in the most beautiful faces. 
 
 Guido, from want of choice in adapting his subject 
 to his ideas and his powers, or from attempting to pre- 
 serve beauty where it could not be preserved, has in 
 
366 
 
 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 this respect succeeded very ill. His figures are often 
 engaged in subjects that required great expression : 
 yet his Judith and Holofernes, the daughter of Herodias 
 with the Baptist's head, the Andromeda, and some even 
 of the Mothers of the Innocents, have little more ex- 
 pression than his Venus attired by the Graces. 
 
 Obvious as these remarks appear, there are many 
 writers on our art, who, not being of the profession, 
 and consequently not knowing what can or cannot be 
 done, have been very liberal of absurd praises in their 
 descriptions of favourite works. They always find in 
 them what they are resolved to find. They praise ex- 
 cellencies that can hardly exist together ; and, above 
 all things, are fond of describing, with great exact- 
 ness, the expression of a mixed passion, which more 
 particularly appears to me out of the reach of our 
 art. 
 
 Such are many disquisitions which I have read on 
 some of the Cartoons and other pictures of Raffaelle, 
 where the critics have described their own imagin- 
 ations ; or, indeed, where the excellent master himself 
 may have attempted this expression of passions above 
 the powers of the art , and has, therefore, by an indis- 
 tinct and imperfect marking, left room for every ima- 
 gination, with equal probability to find a passion of his 
 own. What has been, and what can be done in the 
 art, is sufficiently difficult ; we need not be mortified 
 or discouraged at not being able to execute the con- 
 ceptions of a romantic imagination. Art has its bound- 
 aries, though imagination has none. We can easilv, 
 like the ancients, suppose a Jupiter to be possessed of 
 all those powers and perfections which the subordinate 
 deities were endowed with separately. Yet, when 
 they employed their art to represent him, they con- 
 fined his character to majesty alone. Pliny, therefore, 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 367 
 
 though we are under great obligations to him for the 
 information he has given us in relation to the works of 
 the ancient artists, is very frequently wrong when he 
 speaks of them, which he does very often, in the style 
 of many of our modern connoiseurs. He observes, 
 that in a statue of Paris, by Euphranor, you might 
 discover, at the same time, three different characters; 
 the dignity of a Judge of the Goddesses, the Lover of 
 Helen, and the Conqueror of Achilles. A statue, in 
 Which you endeavour to unite stately dignity, youthful 
 elegance, and stern valour, must surely possess none of 
 these to any eminent degree. 
 
 From hence it appears, that there is much difficulty, 
 as well as danger, in an endeavour to concentrate, in a 
 single subject, those various powers, which, rising 
 from different points, naturally move in different di- 
 rection's. 
 
 The summit of excellence seems to be an assem- 
 blage of contrary qualities, but mixed in such propor- 
 tions, that no one part is found to counteract the other. 
 How hard this is to be attained in every art, those 
 only know, who have made the greatest progress in 
 their respective professions. 
 
 To conclude what I have to say on this part of the 
 subject, which I think of great importance, I wish you 
 to understand, that I do not discourage the younger 
 Students from the noble attempt of uniting all the 
 excellencies of art ; but suggest to them, that, beside 
 the difficulties which attend every arduous attempt, 
 there is a peculiar difficulty in the choice of the excel- 
 lencies which ought to be united. I wish to at- 
 tend to this, that you may try yourselves, whenever 
 you are capable of that trial, what you can and what 
 you cannot do ; and that, instead of dissipating your 
 natural faculties over the immense field of possible 
 
368 
 
 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 excellence, you may choose some particular walk in 
 which you may exercise all your powers, in order that 
 each of you may become the first in his way. If any 
 man shall be master of such a transcendant, command- 
 ing, and ductile genius, as to enable him to rise to the 
 highest, and to stoop to the lowest, flights of art, and 
 to sweep over all of them, unobstructed and secure, 
 he is fitter to give example than to receive instruction. 
 
 Having said thus much on the union of excellencies, 
 I will next say something of the subordination in 
 which various excellencies ought to be kept. 
 
 I am of opinion, that the ornamental style, which, in 
 mv discourse of last year, I cautioned you against con- 
 sidering as principal, may not be wholly unworthy the 
 attention even of those who aim at the grand style, 
 when it is properly placed and properly reduced. 
 
 But this study will be used with far better effect, if 
 its principles are employed in softening the harshness 
 and mitigating the rigour of the great style, than if it 
 attempt to stand forward with any pretensions of its 
 own, to positive and original excellence. It was thus 
 Ludovico Caracci, whose example I formerly recom- 
 mended to you, employed it. He was acquainted with 
 the works both of Correggio and the Venetian painters, 
 and knew the principles by which they produced those 
 pleasing effects, which, at the first glance, prepossess 
 us so much in their favour ; but he took only as much 
 from each as would embellish, but not overpower, 
 that manly strength and energy of style, which is his 
 peculiar character. 
 
 Since I have already expatiated so largely in my 
 former discourse, and in my present, upon the styles 
 and characters of Painting, it will not be at all unsuit- 
 able to my subject, if I mention to you some particu- 
 lars relative to the leading principles, and capital works, 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 369 
 
 of those who excelled in the great style, that I may 
 bring you from abstraction nearer to practice, and by 
 exemplifying- the positions which I have laid down, 
 enable you to understand more clearly what I would 
 enforce. 
 
 The principal works of modern art are in Fresco, a 
 mode of painting which excludes attention to minute 
 elegancies : yet these works in Fresco, are the produc- 
 tions on which the fame of the greatest masters de- 
 pends. Such are the pictures of Michel Angelo and 
 Raffaelle in the Vatican ; to which we may add the 
 Cartoons ; which, though not strictly to be called 
 Fresco, yet may be put under that denomination ; and 
 such are the works of Giulio Romano at Mantua. If 
 these performances were destroyed, with them would 
 be lost the best part of the reputation of those illus- 
 trious painters ; for these are justly considered as the 
 greatest effort of our art which the world can boast. 
 To these, therefore, we should principally direct our 
 attention for higher excellencies. As for the lower 
 arts, as they have been once discovered, they may be 
 easily attained by those possessed of the former. 
 
 Raffaelle, who stands in general foremost of the first 
 painters, owes his reputation, as I have observed, to 
 his excellence in the higher parts of the art ; his works 
 in Fresco, therefore, ought to be the first object of our 
 study and attention. His easel- works stand in a lower 
 degree of estimation : for though he continually, to the 
 day of his death, embellished his performances more 
 and more with the addition of those lower ornaments, 
 which entirely make the merit of some painters, yet 
 he never arrived at such perfection as to make him an 
 object of imitation. He never was able to conquer 
 perfectly that dryness, or even littleness of manner, 
 which he inherited from his master. He never ac- 
 
 VOL. I. B B 
 
370 
 
 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 quired that nicety of taste in colours, that breadth of 
 light and shadow, that art and management of uniting 
 light to light, and shadow to shadow, so as to make the 
 object rise out of the ground, with the plenitude of 
 effect so much admired in the works of Correggio. 
 When he painted in oil, his hand seemed to be so 
 cramped and confined, that he not only lost that facility 
 and spirit, but I think even that correctness of form, 
 which is so perfect and admirable in his Fresco-works. 
 I do not recollect any pictures of his of this kind, ex- 
 cept the Transfiguration, in which there are not some 
 parts that appear to be even feebly drawn. That this 
 is not a necessary attendant on Oil-painting, we have 
 abundant instances in more modern painters. Ludo- 
 vico Caracci, for instance, preserved in his works in 
 oil the same spirit, vigour, and correctness which he 
 had in Fresco. I have no desire to degrade Raffaelle 
 from the high rank which he deservedly holds ; but by 
 comparing him with himself, he does not appear to me 
 to be the same man in Oil as in Fresco. 
 
 From those who have ambition to tread in this great 
 walk of the art, Michel Angelo claims the next at- 
 tention. He did not possess so many excellencies as 
 Raffaelle, but those which he had were of the highest 
 kind. He considered the art as consisting of little 
 more than what may be attained by sculpture ; correct- 
 ness of form, and energy of character. We ought not 
 to expect more than an artist intends in his work. 
 He never attempted those lesser elegancies and graces 
 in the art. Vasari says, he never painted but one 
 picture in oil, and resolved never to paint another, 
 saying, it was an employment only fit for women and 
 children. 
 
 If any man had a right to look down upon the lower 
 accomplishments as beneath his attention, it was cer- 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 371 
 
 tainly Michel Angelo : nor can it be thought strange, 
 that such a mind should have slighted or have been 
 withheld from paying due attention to all those graces 
 and embellishments of art, which have diffused such 
 lustre over the works of other painters. 
 
 It must be acknowledged, however, that together 
 with these, which we wish he had more attended to, he 
 has rejected all the false, though specious ornaments, 
 which disgrace the works even of the most esteemed 
 artists ; and, I will venture to say, that when those 
 higher excellencies are more known and cultivated by 
 the artists and the patrons of arts, his fame and credit 
 will increase with our increasing knowledge. His name 
 will then be held in the same veneration as it was in 
 the enlightened age of Leo the Tenth : and it is re- 
 markable that the reputation of this truly great man 
 has been continually declining as the art itself has 
 declined. For I must remark to you, that it has long 
 been much on the decline, and that our only hope of 
 its revival will consist in your being thoroughly sensible 
 of its deprivation and decay. It is to Michel Angelo 
 that we owe even the existence of Raffaelle ; it is to 
 him Raffaelle owes the grandpur of his style. He was 
 taught by him to elevate his thoughts, and to conceive 
 his subjects with dignity. His genius, however, formed 
 to blaze and shine, might, like fire in combustible 
 matter, for ever have lain dormant, if it had not 
 caught a spark by its contact with Michel Angelo ; 
 and though it never burst out with his extraordinary 
 heat and vehemence, vet it must be acknowledged to 
 be a more pure, regular, and chaste flame. Though 
 our judgment must, upon the whole, decide in favour 
 of Raffaelle, yet he never takes such a firm hold 
 and entire possession of the mind as to make us desire 
 nothing else, and to feel nothing wanting. The effect 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 THE FiFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 of the capital works of Michel Angelo perfectly cor- 
 responds to what Bouchardon said he felt from read- 
 ing Homer ; his whole frame appeared to himself to 
 he enlarged, and all nature which surrounded him, di- 
 minished to atoms. 
 
 If we put these great artists in a light of comparison 
 with each other, Raffaelle had more Taste and Fancy ; 
 Michel Angelo, more Genius and Imagination. The 
 one excelled in heauty, the other in energy. Michel 
 Angelo has more of the poetical Inspiration ; his ideas 
 are^vast and sublime ; his people are a superior order 
 of beings; there is nothing about them, nothing in 
 the air of their actions, or their attitudes, or the style 
 and cast of their limbs or features, that reminds us of 
 their belonging to our own species. Raffaelle's ima- 
 gination is not so elevated; his figures are not so 
 much disjoined from our own diminutive race of beings, 
 though his ideas are chaste, noble, and of great con- 
 formity to their subjects. Michel Angelo's works 
 have a strong, peculiar, and marked character; they 
 seem to proceed from his own mind entirely, and that 
 mind so rich and abundant, that he never needed, or' 
 seemed to disdain, to look abroad for foreign help. 
 Raffaelle's materials are generally borrowed, though 
 the noble structure is his own. The excellency of 
 this extraordinary man lay in the propriety, beauty, 
 and majesty of his characters, the judicious contriv- 
 ance of his Composition, his correctness of Drawing, 
 purity of Taste, and skilful accommodation of other 
 men's conceptions to his own purpose. Nobody ex- 
 celled him in that judgment, with which he united to 
 his own observations on Nature, the energy of Michel 
 Angelo, and the Beauty and Simplicity of the Antique. 
 To the question, therefore, which ought to hold the 
 first rank, Raffaelle or Michel Angelo, it must be 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 373 
 
 answered, that if it is to be given to him who possessed 
 a greater combination of the higher qualities of the 
 art than any other man, there is no doubt but Raf- 
 faelle is the first. But if, as Longinus thinks, the 
 sublime, being the highest excellence that human com- 
 position can attain to, abundantly compensates the 
 absence of every other beauty, and atones for all 
 other deficiencies, then Michel Angelo demands the 
 preference. 
 
 These two extraordinary men carried some of the 
 higher excellencies of the art to a greater degree of 
 perfection than probably they ever arrived at before. 
 They certainly have not been excelled, nor equalled 
 since. Many of their successors were induced to 
 leave this great road as a beaten path, endeavouring to 
 surprise and please by something uncommon or new. 
 When this desire of novelty has proceeded from mere 
 idleness or caprice, it is not worth the trouble of 
 criticism ; but when it has been the result of a busy mind 
 of a peculiar complexion, it is always striking and inte- 
 resting, never insipid. 
 
 Such is the great style, as it appears in those who 
 possessed it at its height : in this, search after novelty, in 
 conception or in treating the subject, has no place. 
 
 But there is another style, which, though inferior to 
 the former, has still great merit, because it shows that 
 those who cultivated it were men of lively and vigour- 
 ou.s imagination. This, which may be called the original 
 or characteristical style, being less referred to any true 
 archetype existing either in general or particular nature, 
 must be supported by the painter's consistency in the 
 principles which he has assumed, and in the union and 
 harmony of his whole design. The excellency of every 
 style, but of the subordinate styles more especially, 
 will very much depend on preserving that union and 
 b b 3 
 
374 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 harmony between all the component parts, that they 
 may appear to hang well together, as if the whole 
 proceeded from one mind. It is in the works of art 
 as in the characters of men. The faults or defects of 
 some men seem to become them, when they appear 
 to be the natural growth, and of a piece with the rest 
 of their character. A faithful picture of a mind, though 
 it be not of the most elevated kind, though it be ir- 
 regular, wild, and incorrect, yet if it be marked with 
 that spirit and firmness which characterise works of 
 genius, will claim attention, and be more striking than 
 a combination of excellencies that do not seem to unite 
 well together ; or we may say, than a work that pos- 
 sesses even all excellencies, but those in a moderate 
 degree. 
 
 One of the strongest-marked characters of this kind, 
 which must be allowed to be subordinate to the great 
 style, is that of Salvator Rosa. He gives us a peculiar 
 cast of nature, which, though void of all grace, elegance, 
 and simplicity, though it has nothing of that elevation 
 and dignity which belongs to the grand style, yet has 
 that sort of dignity which belongs to savage and un- 
 cultivated nature : but what is most to be admired in 
 him, is the perfect correspondence which he observed 
 between the subjects which he chose, and his manner 
 of treating them. Everything is of a piece : his Rocks, 
 Trees, Sky, even to his handling, have the same rude 
 and wild character which animates his figures. 
 
 With him we may contrast the character of Carlo 
 Maratti, who, in my opinion, had no great vigour of 
 mind or strength of original genius. He rarely seizes 
 the imagination by exhibiting the higher excellencies, 
 nor does he captivate us by that originality which 
 attends the painter who thinks for himself. He knew 
 and practised all the rules of art, and from a com- 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 375 
 
 position of Rafaelle, Caracci, and Guido, made up a 
 style, of which the only fault was, that it had no 
 manifest defects and no striking beauties ; and that the 
 principles of his composition are never blended together 
 so as to form one uniform body original in its kind, or 
 excellent in any view. 
 
 I will mention two other painters, who, though en- 
 tirely dissimilar, yet by being each consistent with 
 himself, and possessing a manner entirely his own, have 
 both gained reputation, though for very opposite ac- 
 complishments. The painters I mean are Rubens and 
 Poussin. Rubens I mention in this place, as I think 
 him a remarkable instance of the same mind being seen 
 in all the various parts of the art. The whole is so 
 much of a piece, that one can scarce be brought to 
 believe but that if any one of the qualities he possessed 
 had been more correct and perfect, his works would 
 not have been so complete as they now appear. If we 
 should allow him a greater purity and correctness of 
 Drawing, his want of Simplicity in Composition, Colour- 
 ing, and Drapery, would appear more gross. 
 
 In his Composition his art is too apparent. His 
 figures have expression, and act with energy, but 
 without simplicity or dignity. His colouring, in which 
 he is eminently skilled, is notwithstanding too much of 
 what we call tinted. Throughout the whole of his 
 works, there is a proportionable want of that nicety of 
 distinction and elegance of mind, which is required in 
 the higher walks of painting : and to this want it may 
 be in some degree ascribed, that those qualities which 
 make the excellency of this subordinate style appear 
 in him with their greatest lustre. Indeed the facility 
 with which he invented, the richness of his composition, 
 the luxuriant harmony and brilliancy of his colouring, 
 so dazzle the eye, that whilst his works continue before 
 b b 4 
 
376 
 
 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 us, we cannot help thinking that all his deficiencies are 
 fully supplied.* 
 
 Opposed to this florid, careless, loose, and inaccurate 
 style, that of the simple, careful, pure, and correct 
 style of Poussin, seems to he a complete contrast. Yet 
 however opposite their characters, in one thing they 
 agreed ; both of them always preserving a perfect cor- 
 respondence between all the parts of their respective 
 manners ; insomuch that it may be doubted whether 
 any alteration of what is considered as defective in 
 either, would not destroy the effect of the whole. 
 
 Poussin lived and conversed with the ancient statues 
 so long, that he may be said to have been better ac- 
 quainted with them than with the people who were 
 about him. I have often thought that he carried his 
 veneration for them so far as to wish to give his works 
 the air of Ancient Paintings. It is certain he copied 
 some of the Antique Paintings, particularly the Mar- 
 riage in the Aldobrandini-Palace at Rome, which I 
 believe to be the best relic of those remote ages that 
 has yet been found. 
 
 No works of any modern have so much of the air of 
 Antique Painting as those of Poussin. His best per- 
 formances have a remarkable dryness of manner, which 
 though by no means to be recommended for imitation, 
 yet seems perfectly correspondent to that ancient 
 simplicity which distinguishes his style. Like Polidoro 
 he studied the ancients so much that he acquired a 
 habit of thinking in their way, and seemed to know 
 perfectly the actions and gestures they would use on 
 every occasion. 
 
 Poussin in the latter part of liis life changed from 
 his dry manner to one much softer and richer, where 
 
 * A more detailed character of Rubens may be found in, the 
 " Journey to Flanders and Holland," near the conclusion. — M. 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 377 
 
 therre is a greater union between the figures and 
 gromnd ; as in the Seven Sacraments in the Duke of 
 Orkeans's collection ; but neither these, or any of his 
 othter pictures in this manner, are at all comparable to 
 mamv in this dry manner which we have in England. 
 
 TThe favourite subjects of Poussin were Ancient 
 Fabdes ; and no painter was ever better qualified to 
 paimt such subjects, not only from his being eminently 
 skillled in the knowledge of the ceremonies, customs, 
 andl habits of the Ancients, but from his being so well 
 acqmainted with the different characters which those 
 whco invented them gave to their allegorical figures. 
 Thcough Rubens has shown great fancy in his Satyrs, 
 Sile3nuses, and Fauns, yet they are not that distinct 
 septarate class of beings, which is carefully exhibited 
 by the Ancients, and by Poussin. Certainly, when 
 suclh subjects of antiquity are represented, nothing in 
 the picture ought to remind us of modern times. The 
 mimd is thrown back into antiquity, and nothing ought 
 to be introduced that may tend to awaken it from 
 the illusion. 
 
 Poussin seemed to think that the style and the 
 language in which such stories are told, is not the 
 worrse for preserving some relish of the old way of 
 paiinting, which seemed to give a general uniformity to 
 the i whole, so that the mind was thrown back into anti- 
 quitty not only by the subject, but the execution. 
 
 Ilf Poussin, in imitation of the Ancients, represents 
 Apcollo driving his chariot out of the sea by way of re- 
 presenting the Sun rising, if he personifies Lakes and 
 Riv/ers, it is nowise offensive in him ; but seems per- 
 fectly of a piece with the general air of the picture. 
 On i the contrary, if the figures which people his pic- 
 tures had a modem air or countenance, if they ap- 
 pealed like our countrymen, if the draperies were like 
 
378 
 
 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 cloth or silk of our manufacture, if the landscape had 
 the appearance of a modern view, how ridiculous 
 would Apollo appear instead of the Sun ; and an old Man, 
 or a nymph with an urn, to represent a River or a 
 Lake ? 
 
 I cannot avoid mentioning here a circumstance in 
 portrait-painting, which may help to confirm what has 
 been said. When a portrait is painted in the Historical 
 Style, as it is neither an exact minute representation 
 of an individual, nor completely ideal, every circum- 
 stance ought to correspond to this mixture. The sim- 
 plicity of the antique air and attitude, however much 
 to be admired, is ridiculous when joined to a figure in 
 a modern dress. It is not to my purpose to enter into 
 the question at present, whether this mixed style ought 
 to be adopted or not ; yet if it is chosen, it is neces- 
 sary it should be complete, and all of a piece ; the 
 difference of stuffs, for instance, which make the cloth- 
 ing, should be distinguished in the same degree as the 
 head deviates from a general idea. Without this 
 union, which I have so often recommended, a work can 
 have no marked and determined character, which is 
 the peculiar and constant evidence of genius. But 
 when this is accomplished to a high degree, it becomes 
 in some sort a rival to that style which we have fixed as 
 the highest. 
 
 Thus I have given a sketch of the characters of 
 Rubens and Salvator Rosa, as they appear to me to 
 have the greatest uniformity of mind throughout their 
 whole work. But we may add to these, all those 
 Artists who are at the head of a class, and have had a 
 school of imitators from Michel Angelo down to 
 Watteau. Upon the whole it appears that, setting 
 aside the Ornamental Style, there are two different 
 modes, either of which a Student may adopt without 
 
THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 379 
 
 degrading the dignity of his art. The object of the 
 first, is to combine the higher excellencies and embel- 
 lish them to the greatest advantage : of the other, to 
 carry one of these excellencies to the highest degree. 
 But those who possess neither, must be clashed with 
 them, who, as Shakspere says, are men of no mark or 
 likelihood. 
 
 I inculcate as frequently as I can your forming your- 
 selves upon great principles and great models. Your 
 time will be much mis- spent in every other pursuit. 
 Small excellencies should be viewed, not studied ; they 
 ought to be viewed, because nothing ought to escape 
 a Painter's observation : but for no other reason. 
 
 There is another caution which I wish to give you. 
 Be as select in those whom you endeavour to please, 
 as in those whom you endeavour to imitate. Without 
 the love of fame you can never do anything excellent ; 
 but by an excessive and undistinguishing thirst after 
 it, you will come to have vulgar views ; you will de- 
 grade your style ; and your taste will be entirely cor- 
 rupted. It is certain that the lowest style will be the 
 most popular, as it falls within the compass of igno- 
 rance itself ; and the Vulgar will always be pleased with 
 what is natural, in the confined and misunderstood sense 
 of the word. 
 
 One would wish that such depravation of taste 
 should be counteracted with that manly pride which 
 actuated Euripides when he said to the Athenians who 
 criticised his works, " I do not compose my works in 
 order to be corrected by you, but to instruct you." 
 It is true, to have a right to speak thus, a man must be 
 an Euripides. However, thus much may be allowed, 
 that when an Artist is sure that he is upon firm ground, 
 supported by the authority and practice of his pre- 
 decessors of the greatest reputation, he may then as- 
 
380 
 
 THE FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 sume the boldness and intrepidity of genius; at any 
 rate he must not be tempted out of the right path by 
 any allurement of popularity, which always accom- 
 panies the lower styles of painting. 
 
 I mention this, because our Exhibitions, while they 
 produce such admirable effects by nourishing emulation, 
 and calling out genius, have also a mischievous ten- 
 dency, by seducing the Painter to an ambition of pleas- 
 ing indiscriminately the mixed multitude of people who 
 resort to them. 
 
381 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribu- 
 tion of the Prizes, December 10. 1774. 
 
 IMITATION. — GENIUS BEGINS WHERE RULES END. INVENTION: 
 
 ACQUIRED BY BEING CONVERSANT WITH THE INVENTIONS OK 
 
 OTHERS. THE TRUE METHOD OF IMITATING. BORROWING, 
 
 HOW FAR ALLOWABLE. SOMETHING TO BE GATHERED FROM 
 
 EVERY SCHOOL. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 When I have taken the liberty of addressing you on 
 the course and order of your studies, I never proposed 
 to enter into a minute detail of the art. This I have 
 always left to the several Professors, who pursue the 
 end of our institution with the highest honour to 
 themselves, and with the greatest advantage to the 
 Students. 
 
 My purpose in the discourses I have held in the 
 Academy has been to lay down certain general posi- 
 tions, which seem to me proper for the formation of a 
 sound taste : principles necessary to guard the pupils 
 against those errors into which the sanguine temper 
 common to their time of life has a tendency to lead 
 them : and which have rendered abortive the hopes of 
 so many successions of promising young men in all 
 parts of Europe. I wished also, to intercept and sup- 
 press those prejudices which particularly prevail when 
 the mechanism of painting is come to its perfection ; 
 and which, when they do prevail, are certain utterly 
 to destroy the higher and more valuable parts of this 
 literate and liberal profession. 
 
382 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 These two have been my principal purposes ; they 
 are still as much my concern as' ever ; and if I repeat 
 my own notions on the subject, you who know how fast 
 mistake and prejudice, when neglected, gain ground 
 upon truth and reason, will easily excuse me. I only 
 attempt to set the same thing in the greatest variety of 
 lights. 
 
 The subject of this discourse will be Imitation, as 
 far as a painter is concerned in it. By imitation, I do 
 not mean imitation in its largest sense, but simply the 
 following of other masters, and the advantage to be 
 drawn from the study of their works. 
 
 Those who have undertaken to write on our art, and 
 have represented it as a kind of inspiration, as a gift 
 bestowed upon peculiar favourites at their birth, seem 
 to insure a much more favourable disposition from 
 their readers, and have a much more captivating and 
 liberal, air, than he who attempts to examine, coldly, 
 whether there are any means by which this art may 
 be acquired ; how the mind may be strengthened and 
 expanded, and what guides will show the way to 
 eminence. 
 
 It is very natural for those who are unacquainted 
 with the cause of any thing extraordinary, to be aston- 
 ished at the effect, and to consider it as a kind of 
 magic. They, who have never observed the gradation 
 by which art is acquired ; who see only what is the 
 full result of long labour and application of an infinite 
 number and infinite variety of acts, are apt to conclude, 
 from their entire inabihty to do the same at once, that 
 t is not only inaccessible to themselves, but can be 
 done by those only who have seme gift of the nature of 
 inspiration bestowed upon them. 
 
 The travellers into the East tell us, that when the 
 ignorant inhabitants of those countries are asked con- 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 3S3 
 
 cerning the ruins of stately edifices yet remaining 
 amongst them, the melancholy monuments of their 
 former grandeur and long-lost science, they always 
 answer, that they were built by magicians. The un- 
 taught mind finds a vast gulf between its own powers 
 and those works of complicated art, which it is utterly 
 unable to fathom ; and it supposes that such a void can 
 be passed only by supernatural powers. 
 
 And, as for artists themselves, it is by no means 
 their interest to undeceive such judges, however con- 
 scious they may be of the very natural means by which 
 their extraordinary powers were acquired ; though our 
 art, being intrinsically imitative, rejects this idea of in- 
 spiration, more perhaps than any other. 
 
 It is to avoid this plain confession of the truth, as it 
 should seem, that this imitation of masters, indeed al- 
 most all imitation, which implies a more regular and 
 progressive method of attaining the ends of painting, 
 has ever been particularly inveighed against with great 
 keenness, both by ancient and modern writers. 
 
 To derive all from native power, to owe nothing to 
 another, is the praise which men who do not much 
 think on what they are saying, bestow sometimes upon 
 others, and sometimes on themselves ; and their ima- 
 ginary dignity is naturally heightened by a super- 
 cilious censure of the low, the barren, the groveling, 
 the servile imitator. It would be no wonder if a stu- 
 dent, frightened by these terrific and disgraceful epi- 
 thets, with which the poor imitators are so often 
 loaded, should let fall his pencil in mere despair ; 
 (conscious as he must be, how much he has been in- 
 debted to the labours of others, how little, how very 
 ttle of his art was born with him ; and consider it 
 as hopeless, to set about acquiring by the imitation of 
 
384 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 any human master, what he is taught to suppose is 
 matter of inspiration from heaven. 
 
 Some allowance must he made for what is said in 
 the gaiety of rhetoric. We cannot suppose that any 
 one can really mean to exclude all imitation of others. 
 A position so wild would scarce deserve a serious an- 
 swer ; for it is apparent, if we were forbid to make use 
 of the advantages which our predecessors afford us, 
 the art would be always to begin, and consequently 
 remain always in its infant state ; and it is a common 
 observation, that no art was ever invented and carried 
 to perfection at the same time. 
 
 But to bring us entirely to reason and sobriety, let 
 it be observed, that a painter must not only be of ne- 
 cessity an imitator of the works of nature, which alone 
 is sufficient to dispel this phantom of inspiration, but 
 he must be as necessarily an imitator of the works of 
 other painters: this appears more humiliating, but is 
 equally true ; and no man can be an artist, whatever 
 he may suppose, upon any other terms. 
 
 However, those who appear more moderate and 
 reasonable, allow, that our study is to begin by imi- 
 tation ; but maintain that we should no longer use the 
 thoughts of our predecessors, when we are become 
 able to think for ourselves. They hold that imitation 
 is as hurtful to the more advanced student, as it was 
 advantageous to the beginner. 
 
 For my own part, I confess, I am not only very 
 much disposed to maintain the absolute necessity of 
 imitation in the first stages of the art ; but am of 
 opinion, that the study of other masters, which I here 
 call imitation, may be extended throughout our whole 
 fives, without any danger of the inconveniences with 
 which it is charged, of enfeebling the mind, or pre- 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 385 
 
 venting us from giving that original air which every 
 work undoubtedly ought always to have. 
 
 I am on the contrary persuaded that by imitation 
 only, variety, and even originality of invention, is 
 produced. I will go further ; even genius, at least 
 what generally is so called, is the child of imitation. 
 But as this appears to be contrary to the general 
 opinion, I must explain my position before I enforce it. 
 
 Genius is supposed to be a power of producing ex- 
 cellencies, which are out of the reach of the rules of 
 art ; a power which no precepts can teach, and which 
 no industry can acquire. 
 
 This opinion of the impossibility of acquiring those 
 beauties, which stamp the work with the character of 
 genius, supposes that it is something more fixed, than 
 in reality it is ; and that we always do, and ever did 
 agree in opinion, with respect to what should be con- 
 sidered as the characteristic of genius. But the truth 
 is, that the degree of excellence which proclaims 
 Genius is different, in different times and different 
 places ; and what shows it to be so is, that mankind 
 have often changed their opinion upon this matter. 
 
 When the Arts were in their infancy, the power of 
 merely drawing the likeness of any object, was con- 
 sidered as one of its greatest efforts. The common 
 people, ignorant of the principles of art, talk the same 
 language even to this day. But when it was found 
 that every man could be taught to do this, and a great 
 deal more, merely by the observance of certain pre- 
 cepts ; the name of Genius then shifted its application, 
 and was given only to him who added the peculiar 
 character of the object he represented ; to him who, 
 had invention, expression, grace, or dignity ; in short ) 
 those qualities, or excellencies, the power of pro- 
 
 vol, i. c c 
 
386 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 ducing which, could not then be taught by any known 
 and promulgated rules. 
 
 We are very sure that the beauty of form, the ex- 
 pression of the passions, the art of composition, even 
 the power of giving a general air of grandeur to a 
 work, is at present very much under the dominion of 
 rules. These excellencies were, heretofore, considered 
 merely as the effects of genius : and justly, if genius is 
 not taken for inspiration, but as the effect of close ob- 
 servation and experience. 
 
 He who first made any of these observations, and 
 digested them, so as to form an invariable principle for 
 himself to work by, had that merit, but probably no 
 one went very far at once ; and generally, the first 
 who gave the hint, did not know how to pursue it 
 steadily and methodically ; at least not in the be- 
 ginning. He himself worked on it, and improved it ; 
 others worked more, and improved further ; until the 
 secret was discovered, and the practice made as ge- 
 neral, as refined practice can be made. How many 
 more principles may be fixed and ascertained, we 
 cannot tell; but as criticism is likely to go hand in 
 hand with the art which is its subject, we may venture 
 to say, that as that art shall ^advance, its powers will 
 be 6till more and more fixed by rules. 
 
 But by whatever strides criticism may gain ground, 
 we need be under no apprehension* that invention will 
 ever be annihilated, or subdued ; or intellectual energy 
 be brought entirely within the restraint of written 
 law. Genius will still have room enough to expatiate, 
 and keep always at the same distance from narrow 
 comprehension and mechanical performance. 
 
 What we now call Genius, begins, not where rules 
 abstractedly taken, end ; but where known vulgar and 
 trite rules have no longer any place. It must of ne- 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 387 
 
 cessity be, that even works of Genius, like every other 
 effect, as they must have their cause, must likewise 
 have their rules : it cannot be by chance, that excel- 
 lencies are produced with any constancy or any cer- 
 tainty, for this is not the. nature of chance; but the 
 rules by which men of extraordinary parts, and sueh 
 as are called men of Genius, work, are either such as 
 they discover by their own peculiar observations, or of 
 such a nice texture as not easily to admit being ex- 
 pressed in words ; especially as artists are not very 
 frequently skilful in that mode of communicating ideas. 
 Unsubstantial, however, as these rules may seem, and 
 difficult as it may be to convey them in writing, they 
 are still seen and felt in the mind of the artist ; and 
 he works from them with as much certainty, as if they 
 were embodied, as I may say, upon paper. It is true, 
 these refined principles cannot be always made pal- 
 pable, like the more gross rules of art ; yet it does not 
 follow, but that the mind may be put in such a train, 
 that it shall perceive, by a kind of scientific sense, that 
 propriety, which words, particularly words of un- 
 practised writers, such as we are, can but very feebly 
 suggest. 
 
 Invention is one of the great marks of genius ; but if 
 we consult experience, we shall find, that it is by being 
 conversant with the inventions of others, that we learn 
 to invent ; as by reading the thoughts of others we learn 
 to think. 
 
 Whoever has so far formed his taste, as to be able to 
 relish and feel the beauties of the great masters, has 
 gone a great way in his study; for, merelv from a 
 consciousness of this relish of the right, the mind 
 swells with an inward pride, and is almost as powerfully 
 affected, as if it had itself produced what it admires. 
 Our hearts, frequently wanned in this manner by the 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 contact of those whom we wish to resemble, will un- 
 doubtedly catch something of their way of thinking ; 
 and we shall receive in our own bosoms some radiation 
 at least of their fire and splendour. That disposition, 
 which is so strong in children, still continues with us, 
 of catching involuntarily the general air and manner of 
 those with whom we are most conversant; with this 
 difference only, that a young mind is naturally pliable 
 and imitative ; but in a more advanced state it grows 
 rigid, and must be warmed and softened, before it will 
 receive a deep impression. 
 
 From these considerations, which a little of your 
 own reflection will carry a great way further, it ap- 
 pears, of what great consequence it is, that our minds 
 should be habituated to the contemplation of excel- 
 lence ■, and that, far from being contented to make 
 such habits the discipline of our youth only, we should, 
 to the last moment of our lives, continue a settled in- 
 tercourse with all the true examples of grandeur. 
 Their inventions are not only the food of our infancy, 
 but the substance which supplies the fullest maturity of 
 our vigour. 
 
 The mind is but a barren soil ; a soil which is soon ex- 
 hausted, and will produce no crop, or only one, unless 
 it be continually fertilized and enriched with foreign 
 matter. 
 
 When we have had continually before us the great 
 works of Art to impregnate our minds with kindred 
 ideas, we are then, and not till then, fit to produce 
 something of the same species. We behold all about 
 us with the eyes of those penetrating observers whose 
 works we contemplate ; and our minds, accustomed 
 to think the thoughts of the noblest and brightest in- 
 tellects, are prepared for the discovery and selection 
 of all that is great and noble in nature. The greatest 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 389 
 
 natural genius cannot subsist on its own stock : he who 
 resolves never to ransack any mind but his own, will 
 be soon reduced, from mere barrenness, to the poor- 
 est of all imitations ; he will be obliged to imitate him- 
 self, and to repeat what he has before often repeated. 
 When we know the subject designed by such men, it 
 will never be difficult to guess what kind "of work is to 
 be produced. 
 
 It is vain for painters or poets to endeavour to invent 
 without materials on which the mind may work, and 
 from which invention must originate. Nothing can come 
 of' nothing. 
 
 Homer is supposed to be possessed of all the learning 
 of his time ; and we are certain that Michel Angelo, 
 and Raffaelle, were equally possessed of all the know- 
 in the art which had been discovered in the works of 
 their predecessors. 
 
 A mind enriched by an assemblage of all the trea- 
 sures of ancient and modern art, will be more elevated 
 and fruitful in resources, in proportion to the number of 
 ideas which have been carefully collected and thoroughly 
 digested. There can be no doubt but that he who has 
 the most materials has the greatest means of invention ; 
 and if he has not the power of using them, it must pro- 
 ceed from a feebleness of intellect ; or from the con- 
 fused manner in which those collections have been laid 
 up in his mind. 
 
 The addition of other men's judgment is so far from 
 weakening our own, as is the opinion of many, that it 
 will fashion and consolidate those ideas of excellence 
 which lay in embryo, feeble, ill-shaped, and confused, 
 but which are finished and put in order by the au- 
 thority and practice of those whose works may be said 
 to have been consecrated by having stood the test of 
 ages. 
 
 c c 3 
 
390 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 The mind, or genius, has been compared to a spark of 
 fire, which is smothered by a heap of fuel, and prevented 
 from blazing into a flame : This simile, which is made 
 use of by the younger Pliny, may be easily mistaken 
 for argument or proof. But there is no danger 
 of the mind's being over-burthened with knowledge, 
 or the genius extinguished by any addition of images ; 
 on the contrary, these acquisitions may as well, 
 perhaps better, be compared, if comparisons signified 
 any thing in reasoning, to the supply of living embers, 
 which will contribute to strengthen the spark, that 
 without the association of more fuel would have died 
 away. The truth is, he whose feebleness is such, as to 
 make other men's thoughts an incumbrance to him, can 
 have no very great strength of mind or genius of his 
 own to be destroyed ; so that not much harm will be 
 done at worst. 
 
 We may oppose to Pliny the greater authority of 
 Cicero, who is continually enforcing the necessity of 
 this method of study. In his dialogue on Orator/, he 
 makes Crassus say, that one of the first and most im- 
 portant precepts is, to choose a proper model for our 
 imitation. Hoc sit primum in prceceptis meis, ut demon- 
 stremus quern imitemur. 
 
 When I speak of the habitual imitation and continued 
 study of masters, it is not to be understood that I ad- 
 vise any endeavour to copy the exact peculiar colour and 
 complexion of another man's mind ; the success of 
 such an attempt must always be like his, who imitates ' 
 exactly the air, manner, and gestures of him whom he 
 admires. His model may be excellent, but the copy 
 will be ridiculous : this ridicule does not arise frorii his 
 having imitated, but from his not having chosen the 
 right mode of imitation. 
 
 It is a necessary and warrantable pride to disdain to 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 391 
 
 walk servilely behind any individual, however elevated 
 his rank. The true and liberal ground of imitation 
 is an open field ; where, though he who precedes has had 
 the advantage of starting before you, you may always 
 propose to overtake him : it is enough, however, to 
 pursue his course ; you need not tread in his footsteps, 
 and you certainly have a right to outstrip him if you 
 can. 
 
 Nor whilst I recommend studying the art from artists, 
 can I be supposed to mean that nature is to be neglected; 
 I take this study in aid, and not in exclusion of the 
 other. Nature is and must be the fountain which alone 
 is inexhaustible, and from which all excellencies must 
 originally flow. 
 
 The great use of studying our predecessors is, to open 
 the mind, to shorten our labour, and to give us the re- 
 sult of the selection made by those great minds of what 
 is grand or beautiful in nature ; her' rich stores are all 
 spread out before us ; but it is an art, and no easy art, 
 to know how or what to choose, and how to attain and 
 secure the object of our choice. Thus the highest beauty 
 of form must be taken from nature ; but it is an art of 
 long deduction and great experience to know how to find 
 it. We must not content ourselves with merely ad- 
 miring and relishing; we must enter into the principles 
 on which the work is wrought : these do not swim on 
 the superficies, and consequently are not open to superfi- 
 cial observers. 
 
 Art in its perfection is not ostentatious ; it lies hid 
 and works its effect, itself unseen. It is the proper 
 study and labour of an artist to uncover and find out 
 the latent cause of conspicuous beauties, and from 
 thence form principles of his own conduct; such an 
 examination is a continual exertion of the mind; as 
 c c 4 
 
392 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 great, perhaps, as that of the artist whose works he is 
 thus studying. 
 
 The sagacious imitator does not content himself 
 with merely remarking what distinguishes the different 
 manner or genius of each master; he enters into the 
 contrivance in the composition how the masses of lights 
 are disposed, the means by which the effect is pro- 
 duced, how artfully some parts are lost in the ground, 
 others boldly relieved, and how all these are mutually 
 altered and interchanged according to the reason and 
 scheme of the work. He admires not the harmony of 
 colouring alone, but examines by what artifice one 
 colour is a foil to its neighbour. He looks close into 
 the tints, examines of what colours they are composed, 
 till he has formed clear and distinct ideas, and has 
 learnt to see in what harmony and good colouring 
 consists. What is learnt in this maimer from the works 
 of others becomes really our own, sinks deep, and is 
 never forgotten ; nay, it is by seizing on this clue that 
 we proceed forward, and get further and further in 
 enlarging the principles and improving the practice of 
 our art. 
 
 There can be no doubt but the art is better learnt 
 from the works themselves, than from the precepts 
 which are formed upon those works ; but if it is difficult 
 to choose proper models for imitation, it requires no 
 less circumspection to separate and distinguish what ill 
 those models we ought to imitate. 
 
 I cannot avoid mentioning here, though it is not my 
 intention at present to enter into the art and method 
 of study, an error which students are too apt to fall into. 
 He that is forming himself, must look with great cau- 
 tion and wariness on those peculiarities, or prominent 
 parts, which at first force themselves upon view ; and 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 393 
 
 are the marks, or what is commonly called the manner, 
 by which that individual artist is distinguished. 
 
 Peculiar marks I hold to be, generally, if not always, 
 defects; however difficult it may be wholly to escape 
 them. 
 
 Peculiarities in the works of art are like those in the 
 human figure ; it is by them that we are cognisable, 
 and distinguished one from another, but they are. 
 always so many blemishes; which, however, both in 
 real fife and in painting, cease to appear deformities, 
 to those who have them continually before their eyes. 
 In the works of art, even the most enlightened mind, 
 when warmed by beauties of the highest kind, will by 
 degrees find a repugnance within him to acknowledge 
 any defects ; nay, his enthusiasm will carry him so far, 
 as to transform them into beauties and objects of 
 imitation. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that a peculiarity of style, 
 either from its novelty or by seeming to proceed from 
 a peculiar turn of mind, often escapes blame; on the 
 contrary, it is sometimes striking and pleasing; but 
 this it is a vain labour to endeavour to imitate, because 
 novelty and peculiarity being its only merit, when it 
 ceases to be new it ceases to have value. 
 
 A manner, therefore, being a defect, and every 
 painter, however excellent, having a manner, it seems 
 to follow that all kinds of faults, as well as beauties, 
 may be learned under the sanction of the greatest 
 authorities. Even the great name of Michel Angelo 
 may be used, to keep in countenance a deficiency, 
 or rather neglect, of colouring, and every other orna- 
 mental part of the art. If the young student is dry 
 and hard, Poussin is the same. If his work has a care- 
 less and unfinished air, he has most of the Venetian 
 school to support him. If he makes no selection of 
 
394 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 objects, but takes individual nature just as he finds it, 
 he is like Rembrandt. If he is incorrect in the pro- 
 portions of his figures, Correggio was likewise incorrect. 
 If his colours are not blended and united, Rubens was 
 equally crude. In short, there is no defect that may not 
 be excused, if it is a sufficient excuse that it can be im- 
 puted to considerable artists ; but it must be remem- 
 bered, that it was not by these defects they acquired their 
 reputation ; they have a right to our pardon, but not to 
 our admiration. 
 
 However, to imitate peculiarities, or mistake defects 
 for beauties, that man will be most liable, who confines 
 his imitation to one favourite master ; and even though 
 he chooses the best, and is capable of distinguishing 
 the real excellencies of his model, it is not by such 
 narrow practice that a genius or mastery in the art is 
 acquired. A man is as little likely to form a true 
 idea of the perfection of the art by studying a single 
 artist, as he would be to produce a perfectly beautiful 
 figure, by an exact imitation of any individual living mo- 
 del. And as the painter, by bringing together in one 
 piece those beauties which are dispersed among a great 
 variety of individuals, produces a figure more beautiful 
 than can be found in nature, so that artist who can unite 
 in himself the excellencies of the various great painters, 
 will approach nearer to perfection than any one of his 
 masters. He who confines himself to the imitation of 
 an individual, as he never proposes to surpass, so he 
 is not likely to equal, the object of his imitation. He 
 professes only to follow ; and he that follows must neces- 
 sarily be behind. 
 
 We should imitate the conduct of the great artists 
 in the course of their studies, as well as the works 
 which they produced, when they were perfectly formed. 
 Raffaelle began by imitating implicitly the manner of 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 395 
 
 Pietro Perugino, under whom he studied ; hence his 
 first works are scarce to be distinguished from his mas- 
 ter's ; but soon forming higher and more extensive 
 views, he imitated the grand outline of Michel An- 
 gelo ; he learned the manner of using colours from the 
 works of Leonardo da Vinci, and Fratre Bartolomeo : 
 to all this he added the contemplation of all the re- 
 mains of antiquity that were within his reach, and 
 employed others to draw for him what was in Greece 
 and distant places. And it is from his having taken so 
 many models, that he became himself a model for all 
 succeeding painters; always imitating, and always ori- 
 ginal. 
 
 If your ambition, therefore, be to equal Raffaelle, 
 you must do as Raffaelle did, take many models, and 
 not even Mm for your guide alone, to the exclusion of 
 others.* And yet the number is infinite of those who 
 seem, if one may judge by their style, to have seen no 
 other works but those of their master, or of some fa- 
 vourite, whose manner is their first wish, and their last. 
 
 I will mention a few that occur to me of this narrow, 
 confined, illiberal, unscientific, and servile kind of imi- 
 tators. Guido was thus meanly copied by Elizabetta, 
 Sirani, and Simone Cantarini ; Poussin, by Verdier, 
 and Cheron ; Panneggiano, by Jeronimo Mazzuoli. 
 Paolo Veronese, and Iacomo Bassan, had for their imi- 
 tators their brothers and sons. Pietro da Cortona was 
 followed by Ciro Ferri, and Romanelli; Rubens, by 
 Jacques Jordaens, and Diepenbeke ; Guercino, by his 
 own family, the Gennari. Carlo Maratti was imitated 
 by Giuseppe Chiari, and Pietro de Pietri ; and Rem- 
 brandt, by Bramer, Eeckhout, and Flink. All these, 
 
 * Sed non qui maxime imitandus, etiam solus imitandus est 
 Qumuhan. 
 
396 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 to whom may be added a much longer list of painters, 
 whose works among the ignorant pass for those of their 
 masters, are justly to be censured for barrenness and 
 servility. 
 
 To oppose to this list a few that have adopted a more 
 liberal style of imitation ; — Pellegrino Tibaldi Rosso, and 
 Primaticcio, did not coldly imitate, but caught some- 
 thing of the fire that animates the works of Michel An- 
 gelo. The Caraccis formed their style from Pellegrino 
 Tibaldi, Correggio, and the Venetian school. Dome- 
 nichino, Guido, Lanfranco, Albano, Guercino, Cavidone, 
 Schidone, Tiarini, though it is sufficiently apparent that 
 they came from the school of the Caraccis, have yet the 
 appearance of men" who extended their views beyond 
 the model that lay before them, and have shown that 
 they had opinions of their own, and thought for them- 
 selves, after they had made themselves masters of the 
 general principles of their schools. 
 
 Le Suer's first manner resembles very much that of 
 his master Vouet ; but as he soon excelled him, so he 
 differed from him in every part of the art. Carlo 
 Maratti succeeded better than those I have first named, 
 and I think owes his superiority to the extension of 
 his views ; beside his master Andrea Sacchi, he imitated 
 Raffaelle, Guido, and the Caraccis. It is true, there 
 is nothing very captivating in Carlo Maratti ; but this 
 proceeded from a want which cannot be completely 
 supplied ; that is, want of strength of parts. In this 
 certainly men are not equal ; and a man can bring 
 home wares only in proportion to the capital with 
 which he goes to market. Carlo, by diligence., made 
 the most of what he had ; but there was undoubtedly 
 a heaviness about him, which extended itself, uni- 
 formly, to his invention, expression, his drawing, co- 
 louring, and the general effect of his pictures. The 
 
THK SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 397 
 
 truth is, he never equalled any of his patterns in any 
 one. thing and he added little cf his own. 
 
 But we must not rest contented even in this general 
 study of the moderns ; we must trace back the art to 
 its fountain-head ; to that source from whence they 
 drew their principal excellencies, the monuments of 
 pure antiquity. All the inventions and thoughts of 
 the ancients, whether conveyed to us in statues, bas- 
 reliefs, intaglios, cameos, or coins, are to be sought 
 after and carefully studied ; the genius that hovers 
 over these venerable relics may be called the father of 
 modern art. 
 
 From the remains of the works of the ancients the 
 modern arts were revived, and it is by their means that 
 they must be restored a second time. However it 
 may mortify our vanity, we must be forced to allow 
 them our masters : and we may venture to prophesy, 
 that when they shall cease to be studied, arts will no 
 longer flourish, and we shall again relapse into bar- 
 barism. 
 
 The fire of the artist's own genius operating upon 
 these materials which have been thus diligently col- 
 lected, will enable him to make new combinations, 
 perhaps, superior to what had ever before been in the 
 possession of the art ; as in the mixture of the variety 
 of metals, which are said to have been melted and run 
 together at the burning of Corinth, a new and till 
 then unknown metal was produced, equal in value to 
 any of those that had contributed to its composition. 
 And though a curious refiner should come with his 
 crucibles, analyse and separate its various component 
 parts, yet Corinthian brass would still hold its rank 
 amongst the most beautiful and valuable of metals. 
 
 We have hitherto considered the advantages of imi- 
 tation as it tends to form the taste, and as a practice 
 
398 THK SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 by which a spark of that genius may he caught, which 
 illumines those noble works that ought always to be pre- 
 sent to our thoughts. 
 
 We come now to speak of another kind of imitation ; 
 the borrowing a particular thought, an action, attitude, 
 or figure, and transplanting it into your own work, this 
 will either come under the charge of plagiarism, or be 
 warrantable, and deserve commendation, according to 
 the address with which it is performed. There is some 
 difference, likewise, whether it is upon the ancients or 
 moderns that these depredations are made. It is gene- 
 rally allowed, that no man need be ashamed of copying 
 the ancients ; their works are considered as a magazine 
 of common property, always open to the public, whence 
 every man has a right to take what materials he pleases ; 
 and if he has the art of using them, they are supposed 
 to become to all intents and purposes his own property. 
 The collection of the thoughts of the ancients winch 
 Raffaelle made with so much trouble, is a proof of his 
 opinion on this subject. Such collections may be made 
 with much more ease, by means of an art scarce known 
 in this time ; I mean that of engraving ; by which, at 
 an easy rate, every man may now avail himself of the 
 inventions of antiquity. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that the works of the 
 moderns are more' the property of their authors. He 
 who borrows an idea from an ancient, or even from a 
 modern artist not his contemporary, and so accommo- 
 dates it to his own work, that it makes a part of it, 
 with no seam or joining appearing, can hardly be 
 charged with plagiarism; poets practise this kind of 
 borrowing, without reserve. But an artist should not 
 be contented with this only; he should enter into a 
 competition with his original, and endeavour to im- 
 prove what he is appropriating to his own work. Such 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 399 
 
 imitation is so far from having any thing in it of the 
 servility of plagiarism, that it is a perpetual exercise 
 of the mind, a continual invention. Borrowing or 
 stealing with such art and caution, will have a right to 
 the same lenity as was used by the Lacedemonians; 
 who did not punish theft, but the want of artifice to 
 conceal it. 
 
 In order to encourage you to imitation, to the ut- 
 most extent, let me add, that very finished artists in 
 the inferior branches of the art, will contribute to fur- 
 nish the mind and give hints, of which a skilful painter, 
 who is sensible of what he wants, and is in no danger 
 of being infected by the contact of vicious models', 
 will know how to avail himself. He will pick up from 
 dunghills what, by a nice chemistry, passing through 
 his own mind, shall be converted into pure gold; and 
 under the rudeness of Gothic essays, he will find ori- 
 ginal, rational, and even sublime inventions. 
 
 The works of Albert Durer, Lucas Van Leyden, the 
 numerous inventions of Tobias Stimmer, and Jost 
 Ammon, afford a rich mass of genuine materials, which, 
 wrought up, and polished to elegance, will add copious- 
 ness to what, perhaps, without such aid, could have 
 aspired only to justness and propriety. 
 
 In the luxuriant style of Paul Vergnese, in the ca- 
 pricious compositions of Tintoret, he will find some- 
 thing, that will assist his invention, and give points, 
 from which his own imagination shall rise and take 
 flight, when the subject which he treats will with 
 propriety admit of splendid effects. 
 
 In every school, whether Venetian, French, or 
 Dutch, he will find either ingenious compositions, ex- 
 traordinary effects, some peculiar expressions, or some 
 mechanical excellence, well worthy of his attention, 
 and, in some measure, of his imitation. Even in the 
 
400 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 lower class of the French painters, great beauties are 
 often found, united with great defects. Though Coy- 
 pel wanted a simplicity of taste, and mistook a pre- 
 sumptuous and assuming air, for what is grand and 
 majestic; yet he frequently has good sense and judg- 
 ment in his manner of telling his stories, great skill in 
 his compositions, and is not without a considerable 
 power of expressing the passions. The modern af- 
 fectation of grace in his works, as well as in those of 
 Bosch and Watteau, may be said to be separated by a 
 very thin partition, from the more simple and pure 
 grace of Correggio and Parmegiano. 
 
 Among the Dutch painters, the correct, firm, and 
 determined pencil, which was employed by Bamboccio 
 and Jean Miel, on vulgar and mean subjects, might, 
 without any change, be employed on the highest; to 
 which, indeed, it seems more properly to belong. The 
 greatest style, if that style is confined to small figures, 
 such as Poussin generally painted, would receive an 
 additional grace by the elegance and precision of pencil 
 so dmirable in the works of Teniers ; and though the 
 school to which he belonged more particularly excelled 
 in the mechanism of painting ; yet it produced many, 
 who have shown great abilities in expressing what 
 must be ranked above mechanical excellencies. In 
 the works of Frank Hals, the portrait-painter may ob- 
 serve the composition of a face, the features well put 
 together, as the painters express it ; from whence pro- 
 ceeds that strong-marked character of individual na- 
 ture, which is so remarkable in his portraits, and is 
 not found in an equal degree in any other painter. If 
 he had joined to this most difficult part of the art, a 
 patience in finishing what he had so correctly planned, 
 he might justly have claimed the place which Vandyke, 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 401 
 
 all things considered, so ; ustly holds as the first of 
 portrait -painters . 
 
 Others of the same school have shown great power 
 in expressing the character and passions of those vulgar 
 people which were the subjects of their study and at- 
 tention. Among those, Jan Steen seems to be one of 
 the most diligent and accurate observers of what 
 passed hi those scenes which he frequented, and which 
 were to him an academy. I can easily imagine, that 
 if this extraordinary man had had the good fortune to 
 have been born in Italy, instead of Holland ; had he 
 lived in Rome, instead of Leyden ; and been blessed 
 with Michel Angelo and Raffaelle for his masters, 
 instead of Brouwer and Van Goyen ; the same sagacity 
 and penetration which distinguished so accurately the 
 different characters and expression in his vulgar figures, 
 would, when exerted in the selection and imitation of 
 what was great and elevated in nature, have been 
 equally successful ; and he now would have ranged 
 with the great pillars and supporters of our Art. 
 
 Men who, although thus bound down by the almost 
 invincible powers of early habits, have still exerted 
 extraordinary abilities within their narrow and confined 
 circle ; and have, from the natural vigour of their 
 mind, given a very interesting expression, and great 
 force and energy to their works ; though they cannot 
 be recommended to be exactly imitated, may yet in- 
 vite an artist to endeavour to transfer, by a kind of 
 parody, their excellencies to his own performances. 
 Whoever has acquired the power of making this use of 
 the Flemish, Venetian, and French schools, is a real 
 genius, and has sources of knowledge open to him 
 which were wanting to the great artists who lived in the 
 great age of painting. 
 
 To find excellencies, however dispersed ; to discover 
 
 VOL. I. D D 
 
402 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 beauties, however concealed by the multitude of defects 
 with which they are surrounded, can be the work only 
 of him, who having a mind always alive to his art, has 
 extended his views to all ages and to all schools ; and 
 has acquired from that comprehensive mass which he 
 has thus gathered to himself, a well- digested and per- 
 fect idea of his art, to which every thing is referred. 
 Like a sovereign judge and arbiter of art, he is pos- 
 sessed of that presiding power which separates and at- 
 tracts every excellence from every school ; selects 
 both from what is great, and what is little ; brings 
 home knowledge from the East and from the West ; 
 making the universe tributary towards furnishing his 
 mind, and enriching his works with originality and va- 
 riety of inventions. 
 
 Thus I have ventured to give my opinion of what 
 appears to me the true and only method by which an 
 artist makes himself master of his profession ; which I 
 hold ought to be one continued course of imitation, 
 that is not to cease but with his life. 
 
 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 reaches, have 
 from that time, not only ceased to advance, and im- 
 prove 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. 
 
 I can recommend nothing better therefore, than that 
 you endeavour to infuse into your works what you learn 
 from the contemplation of the works of others. To re- 
 commend this has the appearance f needless and su- 
 perfluous advice ; but it has fallen within my own know- 
 ledge, that artists, though they were not wanting in a 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 403 
 
 sincere love for their art, though they had great plea- 
 sure in seeing good pictures, and were well skilled 
 to distinguish what was excellent or defective in them, 
 yet have gone on in their own manner, without any 
 endeavour to give a little of those beauties, which they 
 admired in others, to their own works. It is difficult 
 to conceive how the present Italian painters, who live in 
 the midst of the treasures of art, should be contented 
 with their own style. They proceed in their common- 
 place inventions, and never think it worth while to 
 visit the works of those great artists with which they are 
 surrounded. 
 
 I remember, several years ago, to have conversed at 
 Rome with an artist of great fame throughout Europe ; 
 he was not without a considerable degree of abilities, 
 but those abilities were by no means equal to his own 
 opinion of them, From the reputation he had ac- 
 quired, he too fondly concluded that he stood in the 
 same rank when compared with his predecessors, as he 
 held with regard to his miserable contemporary rivals. 
 In conversation about some particulars of the works of 
 Raffaelle, he seemed to have, or to affect to have, a 
 very obscure memory of them. He told me that he 
 had not set his foot in the Vatican for fifteen years 
 together ; that he had been in treaty to copy a capital 
 picture of Raffaelle, but that the business had gone cff, 
 however, if the agreement had held, his copy wculd 
 have greatly exceeded the original. The merit of this 
 artist, however great we may suppose it, I am sure 
 would have been far greater, and his presumption would 
 have been far less, if he had visited the Vatican, as in 
 reason he ought to have done, at least once every month 
 of his life. 
 
 I address myself, Gentlemen, to you who have made 
 some progress in the art, and are to be, for the future, 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 
 
 THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 under the guidance of your own judgment and discre- 
 tion. I consider you as arrived to that period, when 
 you have a right to think for yourselves, and to pre- 
 sume that every man is fallible ; to study the masters 
 with a suspicion, that great men are not always ex- 
 empt from great faults ; to criticise, compare, and 
 rank their works in your own estimation, as they ap- 
 proach to, or recede from, that standard of perfection 
 which you have formed in your own minds, but which 
 those masters themselves, it must be remembered, have 
 taught you to make, and which you will cease to make 
 with correctness, when you cease to study them. 
 It is their excellencies which have taught you their 
 defects. 
 
 I would wish you to forget where you are, and who 
 it is that speaks to you, I only direct you to higher 
 models and better advisers. We can teach you here 
 but very little ; you are henceforth to be your own 
 teachers. Do this justice, however, to the English 
 Academy ; to bear in mind, that in this place you con- 
 tracted no narrow habits, no false ideas, nothing that 
 could lead you to the imitation of any living master, 
 who may be the fashionable darling of the day. As 
 you have not been taught to flatter us, do not learn to 
 flatter yourselves. We have endeavoured to lead you 
 to the admiration of nothing but what is truly admir- 
 able. If you choose inferior patterns, or if you make 
 vour own former works your patterns for your latter, it 
 is your own fault. 
 
 The purport of this discourse, and, indeed, of most 
 of mv other discourses, is, to caution you against that 
 false opinion, but too prevalent among artists, of the 
 imaginary powers of native genius, and its sufficiency 
 in great works. This opinion, according to the tem- 
 per of mind it meets with, almost always produces, 
 
THE SIXTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 405 
 
 either a vain confidence, or a sluggish despair, both 
 equally fatal to all proficiency. 
 
 Study, therefore, the great works of the great mas- 
 ters, for ever. Study, as nearly as you can, in the order, 
 in the manner, and on the principles, on which they stu- 
 died. Study nature attentively, but always with those 
 masters in your company; consider them as models 
 which you are to imitate, and at the same time as rivals 
 with whom you are to contend. 
 
40*5 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribution 
 of the Prizes, December 10, 1776. 
 
 THE REALITY OF A STANDARD OF TASTE, AS WELL AS OF CORPORAL 
 BEAUTY. — BESIDE THIS IMMEDIATE TRUTH, THERE ARE SECOND- 
 ARY TRUTHS, WHICH ARE VARIABLE; BOTH REQUIRING THE 
 ATTENTION OF THE ARTIST, IN PROPORTION TO THEIR STABILITY 
 OR THEIR INFLUENCE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 It has been my uniform endeavour, since I first ad- 
 dressed you from this place, to impress you strongly 
 with one ruling idea. I wished you to be persuaded, 
 that success in your art depends almost entirely on 
 your own industry ; but the industry which I princi- 
 pally recommended, is not the industry of the hands, but 
 of the mind. 
 
 As our art is not a divine gift, so neither is it a me- 
 chanical trade. Its foundations are laid in solid sci- 
 ence ; and practice, though essential to perfection, can 
 never attain that to which it aims, unless it works under 
 the direction of principle. 
 
 Some writers upon art carry this point too far, and 
 suppose that such a body of universal and profound 
 learning is requisite, that the very enumeration of its 
 kinds is enough to frighten a beginner. Vitruvius, after 
 going through the many accomplishments of nature, 
 and the many acquirements of learning, necessary 
 to an architect, proceeds with great gravity to assert 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 407 
 
 that he ought to be well skilled in the civil law, that 
 he may not he cheated in the title of the ground he 
 builds on. But without such exaggeration, we may 
 go so far as to assert, that a painter stands in need of 
 more knowledge than is to be picked off his pallet, or 
 collected by looking on his model, whether it be in life 
 or in picture. He can never be a great artist who is 
 grossly illiterate. 
 
 Every man whose business is description, ought to 
 be tolerably conversant with the poets, in some lan- 
 guage or other ; that he may imbibe a poetical spirit, 
 and enlarge his stock of ideas. He ought to acquire 
 an habit of comparing and digesting his notions. He 
 ought not to he wholly unacquainted with that part of 
 philosophy which gives an insight into human nature, 
 and relates to the manners, characters, passions, and 
 affections. He ought to know something concerning 
 the mind, as well as a great deal concerning the body 
 of man. For this purpose, it is not necessary that he 
 should go into such a compass of reading, as must, by 
 distracting his attention, disqualify him for the practi- 
 cal part of his profession, and make him sink the per- 
 former in the critic. Reading, if it can be made the 
 favourite recreation of his leisure hours, will improve 
 and enlarge his mind, without retarding his actual 
 industry. What such partial and desultory reading 
 cannot afford, may be supplied by the conversation of 
 learned and ingenious men, which is the best of all 
 substitutes for those who have not the means or op- 
 portunities of deep study. There are many such men 
 in this age ; aud they will be pleased with communi- 
 cating their ideas to artists, when they see them cu- 
 rious and docile, if they are treated with that respect 
 and deference which is so justly their due. Into such 
 d d 4 
 
408 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 society, young artists, if they make it tbe point of 
 their ambition, will, by degrees, be admitted. There, 
 without formal teaching, they will insensibly come to 
 feel and reason like those they live with, and find a ra- 
 tional and systematic taste imperceptibly formed in 
 their minds, which they will know how to reduce to a 
 standard, by applying general truth to their own pur- 
 poses, better, perhaps, than those to whom they owned 
 the original sentiment. 
 
 Of these studies, and this conversation, the desire and 
 legitimate offspring, is a power of distmguishing right 
 from wrong ; which power applied to works of art, is 
 denominated Taste. Let me then, without further in- 
 troduction, enter upon an examination, whether taste be 
 so far beyond our reach, as to be unattainable by care ; 
 or be so very vague and capricious, that no care ought 
 to be employed about it. 
 
 It has been the fate of arts to be enveloped in myste- 
 rious and incomprehensible language, as if it was thought 
 necessary that even the terms should correspond to the 
 idea entertained of the instability and uncertainty of the 
 rules which they expressed. 
 
 To speak of genius and taste, as in any way con- 
 nected with reason or common sense, would be, in the 
 opinion of some towering talkers, to speak like a man 
 who possessed neither ; who had never felt that en- 
 thusiasm, or, to use their own inflated language, was 
 never warmed by that Promethean fire, which animates 
 the canvass and vivifies the marble. 
 
 If, in order to be intelligible, I appear to degrade 
 art by bringing her down from the visionary situation 
 in the clouds, it is only to give her a more solid man- 
 sion upon the earth. It is necessary that at some time 
 or other we should see things as they really are, 
 and not impose on ourselves by that false magnitude 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 409 
 
 with which objects appear when viewed indistinctly 
 as through a mist. 
 
 We will allow a poet to express his meaning 1 , when his 
 meaning is not well known to himself, with a certain 
 degree of obscurity, as it is one sort of the sublime. 
 But when, in plain prose, we gravely talk of courting 
 the Muse in shady bowers ; waiting the call and in- 
 spiration of Genius, finding out where he inhabits, and 
 where he is to be invoked with the greatest success ; of 
 attending to times and seasons when the imagination 
 shoots with the greatest vigour, whether at the summer 
 solstice or the vernal equinox ; sagaciously observing 
 how much the wild freedom and liberty of imagination 
 is cramped by attention to established rules ; and how 
 this same imagination begins to grow dim in advanced 
 age, smothered and deadened by too much judgment ; 
 when we talk such language, or entertain such senti- 
 ments as these, we generally rest contented with mere 
 words, or at best entertain notions not onlv groundless 
 but pernicious. 
 
 If all this means, what it is very possible was originally 
 intended only to be meant, that in order to cultivate 
 an art, a man secludes himself from the commerce of 
 the world, and retires into the country at particular 
 seasons : or that at one time of the year his body is 
 in better health, and consequently his mind fitter for 
 the business of hard thinking than at another time ; 
 or that the mind may be fatigued and grow confused 
 by long and unremitted application ; this I can under- 
 stand. I can likewise believe, that a man eminent 
 when young for possessing poetical imagination, may, 
 from having taken another road, so neglect its culti- 
 vation, as to show less of its powers in his latter life. 
 But I am persuaded, that scarce a poet is to be found, 
 from Homer down to Dryden, who preserved a sound 
 
410 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 mind in a sound body, and continued practising his 
 profession to the very last, whose latter works are not 
 as replete with the fire of imagination, as those which 
 were produced in his more youthful days. 
 
 To understand literally these metaphors, or ideas 
 expressed in poetical language, seems to be equally 
 absurd as to conclude, that because painters sometimes 
 represent poets writing from the dictates of a little 
 winged boy or genius, that this same genius did really 
 inform him in a whisper what he was to write ; and 
 that he is himself but a mere machine, unconscious of 
 the operations of his own mind. 
 
 Opinions generally received and floating in the 
 world, whether true or false, we naturally adopt and 
 make our own : they may be considered as a kind of 
 inheritance to which we succeed and are tenants for 
 life, and which we leave to our posterity very nearly in 
 the condition in which we received it ; it not being 
 much in any one man's power either to impair or im- 
 prove it. The greatest part of these opinions, like 
 current coin in its circulation, we are used to take 
 without weighing or examining ; but by this inevitable 
 inattention many adulterated pieces are received, 
 which, when we seriously estimate our wealth, we 
 must throw away. So the collector of popular opinions, 
 when he embodies his knowledge, and forms a system, 
 must separate those which are true from those which 
 are only plausible. But it becomes more peculiarly a 
 duty to the professors of art not to let any opinions 
 relating to that art pass unexamined. The caution 
 and circumspection required in such examination we 
 shall presently have an opportunity of explaining. 
 
 Genius and taste, in their common acceptation, ap- 
 pear to be very nearly related ; the difference lies only 
 in this, that genius has superadded to it a habit or 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 411 
 
 power of execution ; or we may say, that taste, when 
 this power is added, changes its name, and is called 
 genius. They both, in the popular opinion, pretend 
 to an entire exemption from the restraint of rules. It 
 is supposed that their powers are intuitive ; that under 
 the name of genius great works are produced, and 
 under the name of taste an exact judgment is given, 
 without our knowing why, and without our being un- 
 der the least obligation to reason, precept, or ex- 
 perience. 
 
 One can scarce state these opinions without exposing 
 their absurdity ; yet they are constantly in the mouths 
 of men, and particularly of artists. They who have 
 thought seriously on this subject, do not carry the 
 point so far; yet I am persuaded, that even among 
 those few who may be called thinkers, the prevalent 
 opinion allows less than it ought to the powers of rea- 
 son ; and considers the principles of taste, which give 
 all their authority to the rules of art, as more fluc- 
 tuating, and as having less solid foundations, than we 
 shall find, upon examination, they really have. 
 
 The common saying, that tastes are not to be disputed, 
 owes its influence, and its general reception, to the 
 same error which leads us to imagine this faculty of 
 too high an original to submit to the authority of an 
 earthly tribunal. It likewise corresponds with the 
 notions of those who consider it as a mere phantom 
 of the imagination, so devoid of substance as to elude all 
 criticism. 
 
 We often appear to differ in sentiments from each 
 other, merely from the inaccuracy of terms, as we are 
 not obliged to speak always with critical exactness. 
 Something of this too may arise from want of words 
 m the language in which we speak, to express the 
 more nice discrimination which a deep investigation 
 
412 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 discovers. A great deal, however, of this difference 
 vanishes, when each opinion is tolerably explained and 
 understood by constancy and precision in the use of 
 terms. 
 
 We apply the term Taste to that act of the mind 
 by which we like or dislike, whatever be the subject. 
 Our judgment upon an airy nothing, a fancy which has 
 no foundation, is called by the same name which we 
 give to our determination concerning those truths 
 which refer to the most general and most unalterable 
 principles of human nature : to the works which are 
 only to be produced by the greatest efforts of the hu- 
 man understanding. However inconvenient this may 
 be, we are obliged to take words as we find them ; 
 all we can do is to distinguish the Things to which they 
 are applied. 
 
 We may let pass those things which are at once sub- 
 jects of taste and sense, and which having as much cer- 
 tainty as the senses themselves, give no occasion to 
 inquiry or dispute. The natural appetite or taste of the 
 human mind is for Truth ; whether that truth results 
 from the real agreement or equality of original ideas 
 among themselves ; from the agreement of the representa- 
 tion of any object with the thing represented ; or from 
 the correspondence of the several parts of any arrange- 
 ment with each other. It is the very same taste which 
 relishes a demonstration in geometry, that is pleased with 
 the resemblance of a picture to an original and touched 
 with the harmony of music. 
 
 All these have unalterable and fixed foundations in 
 nature, and are therefore equally investigated by rea- 
 son, and known by study ; some with more, some with 
 less clearness, but all exactly in the same way. A picture 
 that is unlike, is false. Disproportionate ordonnance of 
 parts is not right ; because it cannot be true, until it ceases 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 413 
 
 to be a contradiction to assert, that the parts have no 
 relation to the whole. Colouring is true, when it is 
 naturally adapted to the eye, from brightness, from 
 softness, from harmony, from resemblance ; because 
 these agree with their object, Nature, and therefore 
 are true ; as true as mathematical demonstration ; but 
 known to be true only to those who study these things. 
 
 But besides real, there is also apparent truth, or 
 opinion, or prejudice. With regard to real truth, when 
 it is known, the taste which conforms to it is, and must 
 be, uniform. With regard to the second sort of truth, 
 which may be called truth upon sufferance, or truth by 
 courtesy, it is not fixed, but variable. However, whilst 
 these opinions and prejudices, on which it is founded, 
 continue, they operate as truth ; and the art, whose 
 office it is to please the mind, as well as instruct 
 it, must direct itself according to opinion, or it will not 
 attain its end. 
 
 In proportion as these prejudices are known to be 
 generally diffused, or long received, the taste which 
 conforms to them approaches nearer to certainty, and 
 to a sort of resemblance to real science, even where 
 opinions are found to be no better than prejudices. 
 And since they deserve, on account of their duration 
 and extent, to be considered as really true, they be- 
 come capable of no small degree of stability and deter- 
 mination, by their permanent and uniform nature. 
 
 As these prejudices become more narrow, more local, 
 more transitory, this secondary taste becomes more and 
 more fantastical ; recedes from real science ; is less to be 
 approved by reason, and less followed by practice : 
 though in no case perhaps to be wholly neglected, where 
 it does not stand, as it sometimes does, in direct de- 
 fiance of the most respectable opinions received amongst 
 mankind. 
 
414 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 Having laid down these positions, I shall proceed 
 with less method, because less will serve to explain and 
 apply them. 
 
 We will take it for granted, that reason is something 
 invariable, and fixed in the nature of things ; and with- 
 out endeavouring to go back to an account of first prin- 
 ciples, which for ever will elude our search, we will 
 conclude, that whatever goes under the name of taste, 
 which we can fairly bring under the dominion of reason, 
 must be considered as equally exempt from change. If, 
 therefore, in the course of this enquiry, we can show that 
 there are rules for the conduct of the artist which are 
 fixed and invariable, it follows of course, that the art of 
 the connoisseur, or, in other words, taste, has likewise 
 invariable principles. 
 
 Of the judgment which we make on the works of art, 
 and the preference that we give to one class of art over 
 another, if a reason be demanded, the question is perhaps 
 evaded by answering, I judge from my taste ; but it does 
 not follow that a better answer cannot be given, though, 
 for common gazers, this may be sufficient. Every man 
 is not obliged to investigate the cause of his approbation 
 or dislike. 
 
 The arts would lie open for ever to caprice and 
 casualty, if those who are to judge of their excellencies 
 had no settled principles by which they are to regulate 
 their decisions, and the merit or defect of performances 
 were to be determined by unguided fancy. And indeed 
 we may venture to assert, that whatever speculative 
 knowledge is necessary to the artist, is equally and indis- 
 pensably necessary to the connoisseur. 
 
 The first idea that occurs in the consideration of 
 what is fixed in art, or in taste, is that presiding prin- 
 ciple of which I have so frequently spoken in former 
 discourses, — the general idea of nature. The be- 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 415 
 
 ginning, the middle, and the end of every thing that is 
 valuable in taste, is comprised in the knowledge of 
 what is truly nature; for whatever notions are not 
 conformable to those of nature, or universal opinion, 
 must be considered as more or less capricious. 
 
 My notion of nature comprehends not only the forms 
 which nature produces, but also the nature and in- 
 ternal fabric and organization, as I may call it, of the 
 human mind and imagination. The terms beauty, or 
 nature, which are general ideas, are but different 
 modes of expressing the same thing, whether we apply 
 these terms to statues, poetry, or pictures. Deformity is 
 not nature, but an accidental deviation from her ac- 
 customed practice. This general idea therefore ought to 
 be called Nature ; and nothing else, correctly speaking, 
 has a right to that name. But we are sure so far from 
 speaking, in common conversation, with any such accu- 
 racy, that, on the contrary, when we criticise Rembrandt 
 and other Dutch painters, who introduced into their his- 
 torical pictures exact representations of individual objects 
 with all their imperfections, we say, — though it is not 
 in a good taste, yet it is nature. 
 
 This misapplication of terms must he very often 
 perplexing to the young student. Is not art, he may 
 say, 'an imitation of nature ? Must he not therefore 
 who imitates her with the greatest fidelity be the best 
 artist ? By this mode of reasoning Rembrandt has a 
 higher place than Raffaelle. But a very little reflection 
 will serve to show us that these particularities cannot be 
 nature ; for how can that be the nature of man, in which 
 no two individuals are the same ? 
 
 It plainly appears, that as a work is conducted 
 under the influence of general ideas, or partial, it is prin- 
 cipally to be considered as the effect of a good or a bad 
 taste. 
 
416 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 As beauty therefore does not consist in taking what 
 lies immediately before you, so neither, in our pursuit 
 of taste, are those opinions which we first received and 
 adopted, the best choice, or the most natural to the mind 
 and imagination. In the infancy of our knowledge we 
 seize with greediness the good that is within our reach ; 
 it is by after- consideration, and in consequence of disci- 
 pline, that we refuse the present for a greater good at a 
 distance. The nobility or elevation of all arts, like the 
 excellency of virtue itself, consists in adopting this en- 
 larged and comprehensive idea ; and all criticism built 
 upon the more confined view of what is natural, 
 may properly be called shallow criticism, rather than 
 false : its defect is, that the truth is not sufficiently 
 extensive. 
 
 It has sometimes happened, that some of the greatest 
 men in our art have been betrayed into errors by this 
 confined mode of reasoning. Poussin, who upon the 
 whole, may be produced as an artist strictly attentive 
 to the most enlarged and extensive ideas of nature, 
 from not having settled principles on this point, has, 
 in one instance at least, I think, deserted truth for 
 prejudice. He is said to have vindicated the conduct 
 of Julio Romano for his inattention to the masses of 
 light and shade, or grouping the figures in the battle 
 of Constantine, as if designedly neglected, the 
 better to correspond with the hurry and confusion 
 of a battle. Poussin's own conduct in many of his pic- 
 tures, makes us more easily give credit to this report. 
 That it was too much his own practice, the Sacrifice 
 to Silenus, and the Triumph of Bacchus and 
 Ariadne*, may be produced as instances ; but this 
 principle is still more apparent, and may be said to be 
 
 * In the Cabinet of the Earl of Ashburnham. 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 417 
 
 even more ostentatiously displayed in his Perseus and 
 Medusa's Head.* 
 
 This is undoubtedly a subject of great bustle and 
 tumult, and that the first effect of the picture may 
 correspond to the subject, every principle of compo- 
 sition is violated ; there is no principal figure, no prin- 
 cipal light, no groups ; every thing is dispersed, and in 
 such a state of confusion, that the eye finds no repose 
 any where. In consequence of the forbidding appear- 
 ance, I remember turning from it with disgust, and 
 should not have looked a second time, if I had not 
 been called back to a closer inspection. I then indeed 
 found, what we may expect always to find in the works 
 of Poussin, correct drawing, forcible expression, and 
 just character; in short, all the excellencies which 
 so much distinguish the works of this learned painter. 
 
 This conduct of Poussin I hold to be entirely im- 
 proper to imitate. A picture should please at first 
 sight, and appear to invite the spectator's attention : 
 if, on the contrary, the general effect offends the eye, 
 a second view is not always sought, whatever more 
 substanstial and intrinsic merit it may possess. 
 
 Perhaps no apology ought to be received for offences 
 committed against the vehicle (whether it be the or- 
 gan of seeing or of hearing,) by which our pleasures 
 are conveyed to the mind. We must take care that 
 the eye be not perplexed and distracted by a confusion 
 of equal parts, or equal lights, or offended by an un- 
 harmonious mixture of colours, as we should guard 
 against offending the ear by unharmonious sounds. We 
 may venture to be more confident of the truth of this 
 observation, since we find that Shakspeare, on a pa- 
 rallel occasion, has made Hamlet recommend to the 
 
 * In the Cabinet of Sir Peter Burrel. 
 VOL. I. K E 
 
418 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 players a precept of the same kind, — never to offend 
 the ear hy harsh sounds : In the very torrent, tempest, 
 and whirlwind of your passion, says he, you must ac- 
 quire and beget a temperance that may give it smooth- 
 ness. And yet, at the same time, he very justly 
 observes, The end of playing, both at the first, and now, 
 was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature. 
 No one can deny, that violent passions will naturally 
 emit harsh and disagreeable tones : yet this great poet 
 and critic thought that this imitation of nature would 
 cost too much, if purchased at the expense of disagree- 
 ble sensations, or, as he expresses it, of splitting the 
 ear. The poet and actor, as well as the painter of 
 genius, who is well acquainted with all the variety and 
 sources of pleasure in the mind and imagination, has 
 little regard or attention to common nature, or creep- 
 ing after common sense. By overleaping those narrow 
 bounds, he more effectually seizes the whole mind, and 
 more powerfully accomplishes his purpose. This suc- 
 cess is ignorantly imagined to proceed from inattention 
 to all rules, and a defiance of reason and judgment; 
 whereas it is in truth acting according to the best rules 
 and the justest reason. 
 
 He who thinks nature, in the narrow sense of the 
 word, is alone to be followed, will produce but a scanty 
 entertainment for the imagination; . every thing is to 
 be done with which it is natural for the mind to be 
 pleased, whether it proceeds from simplicity or variety, 
 uniformity or irregularity ; whether the scenes are 
 familiar or exotic ; rude and wild, or enriched and 
 cultivated ; for it is natural for the mind to be pleased 
 with all these in their turn. In short, whatever pleases 
 has in it what is analogous to the mind, and is, there- 
 fore, in the highest and best sense of the word, natural. 
 
 It is the sense of nature or truth, which ought more 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 419 
 
 particularly to be cultivated by the professors of art; 
 and it may be observed, that many wise and learned 
 men, who have accustomed their minds to admit no- 
 thing for truth but what can be proved by mathema- 
 cal demonstration, have seldom any relish for those 
 arts which address themselves to the fancy, the rec- 
 titude and truth of which is known by another kind of 
 proof ; and we may add, that the acquisition of this 
 knowledge requires as much circumspection and sa- 
 gacity as is necessary to attain those truths which are 
 more capable of demonstration. Reason must ulti- 
 matelv determine our choice on every occasion ; but 
 this reason may still be exerted ineffectually by ap- 
 plying to taste principles which, though right as far as 
 they go, yet do not reach the object. No man, for in- 
 stance, can deny, that it seems at first view very 
 reasonable, that a statue which is to carry down to 
 posterity the resemblance of an individual, should be 
 dressed in the fashion of the times, in the dress which 
 he himself wore ; this would certainly be true, if the 
 dress were part of the man ; but after a time, the dress 
 is only an amusement for an antiquarian ; and if it 
 obstructs the general design of the piece, it is to be 
 disregarded by the artist. Common sense must here 
 give way to a higher sense. In the naked form, and 
 in the disposition of the drapery, the difference be- 
 tween one artist and another is principally seen. But 
 if he is compelled to exhibit the modern dress, the 
 naked form is entirely hid, and the drapery is already 
 disposed by the skill of the tailor. Were a Phidias to 
 obey such absurd commands, he would please no more 
 than an ordinary sculptor ; in the inferior parts of every 
 art, the learned and the ignorant are nearly upon a 
 level. 
 
 These were probably among the reasons that in- 
 
 K E 2 
 
420 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 duced the sculptor of that wonderful figure of Laocoon, 
 to exhibit him naked, notwithstanding he was surprised 
 in the act of sacrificing to Apollo, and consequently 
 ought to have been shown in his sacerdotal habits, if 
 those greater reasons had not preponderated. Art is 
 not yet in so high estimation with us, as to obtain 
 so great a sacrifice as the ancients made, especially 
 the Grecians, who suffered themselves to be repre- 
 sented naked, whether they were generals, law- givers 
 or kings. 
 
 Under this head of balancing and choosing the 
 greater reason, or of two evils taking the least, we may 
 consider the conduct of Rubens in the Luxembourg 
 gallery, where he has mixed allegorical figures with 
 the representations of real personages, which must be 
 acknowledged to be a fault ; yet, if the artist consi- 
 dered himself as engaged to furnish this gallery with 
 a rich, various, and splendid ornament, this could not 
 be done, at least in an equal degree, without peopling 
 the air and water with these allegorical figures ; he 
 therefore accomplished all that he purposed In this 
 case all lesser considerations, which tend to obstruct 
 the great end of the work, must yield and give way. 
 
 The variety which portraits and modern dresses, 
 mixed with allegorical figures, produce, is not to be 
 slightly given up upon a punctilio of reason, when that 
 reason deprives the art in a manner of its very exist- 
 ence. It must always be remembered that the business 
 of a great painter is to produce a great picture ; he 
 must therefore take especial care not to be cajoled by 
 specious arguments out of his materials. 
 
 What has been so often said to the disadvantage of 
 allegorical poetry, — that it is tedious, and uninterest- 
 ing, — cannot with the same propriety be applied to 
 painting, where the interest is of a different kind. If 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 421 
 
 allegorical painting produces a greater variety of ideal 
 beauty, a richer, a more various and delightful com- 
 position, and gives to the artist, a greater opportunity of 
 exhibiting his skill, all the interest he wishes for is ac- 
 complished ; such a picture not only attracts, but fixes 
 the attention. 
 
 If it be objected that Rubens judged ill at first in 
 thinking it necessary to make his work so very orna- 
 mental, this puts the question upon new ground. It 
 was his peculiar style ; he could paint in no other ; and 
 he was selected for that work, probably because it was 
 his style. Nobody will dispute but some of the best 
 of the Roman or Bolognian schools would have produced 
 a more learned and more noble work. 
 
 This leads us to another important province of taste, 
 that of weighing the value of the different classes of the 
 art, and of estimating them accordingly. 
 
 All arts have means within them of applying them- 
 selves with success both to the intellectual and sen- 
 sitive part of our natures. It cannot be disputed, 
 supposing both these means put in practice with equal 
 abilities, to which we ought to give the preference ; to 
 him who represents the heroic arts and more dignified 
 passions of man, or to him who, by the help of mere- 
 tricious ornaments, however elegant and graceful, 
 captivates the sensuality, as it may be called, of our 
 taste. Thus the Roman and Bolognian schools are 
 reasonably preferred to the Venetian, Flemish or 
 Dutch schools, as they address themselves to our best 
 and noblest faculties. 
 
 Well-turned periods in eloquence, or harmony of 
 numbers in poetry, which are in those arts what co- 
 louring is in painting, however highly we may esteem 
 them, can never be considered as of equal importance 
 with the art of unfolding truths that are useful to man- 
 E e 3 
 
422 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 kind, and which make us better or wiser. Nor can 
 those works which remind us of the poverty and mean- 
 ness of our nature, be considered as of equal rank with 
 what excites ideas of grandeur, or raises and dignifies 
 humanity ; or, in the words of a late poet, which makes 
 the beholder learn to venerate himself as man* 
 
 It is reason and good sense, therefore, which ranks 
 and estimates every art, and every part of that art, 
 according to its importance, from the painter of ani- 
 mated, down to inanimated nature. We will not allow 
 a man, who shall prefer the inferior style, to say it is 
 his taste ; taste here has nothing, or at least ought to 
 have nothing, to do with the question. He wants not 
 taste, but sense and soundness of judgment. 
 
 Indeed perfection in an inferior style may be rea- 
 sonably preferred to mediocrity in the highest walks of 
 art. A landscape of Claude Lorrain may be preferred 
 to a history by Luca Giordano ; but hence appears the 
 necessity of the connoisseur's knowing in what consists 
 the excellency of each class, in order to judge how near 
 it approaches to perfection. 
 
 Even in works of the same kind, as in history-paint- 
 ing, which is composed of various parts, excellence of 
 an inferior species, carried to a very high degree, will 
 make a work very valuable, and in some measure com- 
 pensate for the absence of the higher kinds of merit. 
 It is the duty of the connoisseur to know and esteem, 
 as much as it may deserve, every part of painting : he 
 will not then think even Bassano unworthy of his 
 notice ; who, though totally devoid of expression, 
 sense, grace, or elegance, may be esteemed on account 
 of his admirable taste of colours, which, in his best 
 works, are little inferior to those of Titian. 
 
 * Dr. Goldsmith. 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 423 
 
 Since I have mentioned Bassano, we must do him 
 likewise the justice to acknowledge, that though he 
 did not aspire to the dignity of expressing the cha- 
 racters and passions of men, yet, with respect to faci- 
 lity and truth in his manner of touching animals of all 
 kinds, and giving them what painters call their character, 
 few have excelled him. 
 
 To Bassano we may add Paul Veronese and Tin- 
 toret, for their entire inattention to what is justly 
 thought the most essential part of our art, the ex- 
 pression of the passions. Notwithstanding these 
 glaring deficiencies, we justly esteem their works ; 
 but it must be remembered, that they do not please 
 from those defects, but from their great excellencies 
 of another kind, and in spite of such transgressions. 
 These excellencies, too, as far as they go, are founded 
 in the truth of general nature : they tell the truth, 
 though not the whole truth. 
 
 By these considerations, which can never be too 
 frequently impressed, may be obviated two errors, 
 which I observed to have been, formerly at least, the 
 most prevalent, and to be most injurious to artists; 
 that of thinking taste and genius to have nothing to do 
 with reason, and that of taking particular living objects 
 for nature. 
 
 I shall now say something on that part of taste, which 
 as I have hinted to you before, does not belong so 
 much to the external form of things, but is addressed 
 to the mind, and depends on its original frame, or, to 
 use the expression, the organisation of the soul ; I 
 mean the imagination and the passions. The princi- 
 ples of these are as invariable as the former, and are 
 to be known and reasoned upon in the same manner, 
 by an appeal to common sense deciding upon the 
 common feelings of mankind. This sense, and these 
 
424 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 feelings appear to me of equal authority, and equally 
 conclusive. Now this appeal implies a general uni- 
 formity and agreement in the minds of men. It would 
 be else an idle and vain endeavour to establish rules of 
 art ; it would be pursuing a phantom, to attempt to 
 move affections with which we were entirely unac- 
 quainted. We have no reason to suspect there is 
 a greater difference between our minds than between 
 our forms ; of which, though there are no two alike, 
 yet there is a general similitude that goes through the 
 whole race of mankind ; and those who have cultivated 
 their taste, can distinguish what is beautiful or deformed, 
 or, in other words, what agrees with or deviates from the 
 general idea of nature, in one case, as well as in the 
 other. 
 
 The internal fabric of our minds, as well as the ex- 
 ternal form of our bodies, being nearly uniform ; it seems 
 then to follow of course, that as the imagination is in- 
 capable of producing any thing originally of itself, and 
 can only vary and combine those ideas with which it 
 is furnished by means of the senses, there will be ne- 
 cessarily an agreement in the imaginations, as in the 
 senses of men. There being this agreement, it follows, 
 that in all cases, in our lightest amusements, as well as 
 in our most serious actions and engagements of life, we 
 must regulate our affections of every kind by that of 
 others. The well- disciplined mind acknowledges this 
 authority, and submits its own opinion to the public 
 voice. It is from knowing what are the general feelings 
 and passions of mankind, that we acquire a true idea of 
 what imagination is ; though it appears as if we had 
 nothing to do but to consult our own particular sensa- 
 tions, and these were sufficient to ensure us from all 
 error and mistake. 
 
 A knowledge of the disposition and character of 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 425 
 
 the human mind can be acquired only by experience ; 
 a great deal will be learned, I admit, by a habit of 
 examining what passes in our bosoms, what are our 
 own motives of action, and of what kind of sentiments 
 we are conscious on any occasion, We may suppose 
 an uniformity, and conclude that the same effect will 
 be produced by the same cause in the mind of others. 
 This examination will contribute to suggest to us 
 matters of inquiry ; but we can never be sure that our 
 own sentiments are true and right, till they are con- 
 firmed by more extensive observation. One man op- 
 posing another determines nothing ; but a general 
 union of minds, like a general combination of the forces 
 of all mankind, makes a strength that is irresistible. 
 In fact, as he who does not know himself, does not 
 know others, so it may be said with equal truth, that 
 he who does not know others, know himself but very 
 imperfectly. 
 
 A man who thinks he is guarding himself against 
 prejudices by resisting the authority of others, leaves 
 open every avenue to singularity, vanity, self-conceit, 
 obstinacy, and many other vices, all tending to warp 
 the judgment, and prevent the natural operation of his 
 faculties. This submission to others is a deference 
 which we owe, and indeed are forced involuntarily to 
 pay. In fact, we never are satisfied with our opinions, 
 whatever we may pretend, till they are ratified and 
 confirmed by the suffrages of the rest of mankind. 
 We dispute and wrangle for ever; we endeavour to 
 get men to come to us, when we do not go to them. 
 
 He therefore who is acquainted with the works 
 which have pleased different ages and different coun- 
 tries, and has formed his opinion on them, has more 
 materials, and more means of knowing what is analo- 
 gous to the mind of man, than he who is conversant 
 
426 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE 
 
 only with the works of his own age or country. What 
 has pleased, and continues to please, is likely to please 
 again : hence are derived the rules of art, and on this 
 immoveable foundation they must ever stand. 
 
 This search and study of the history of the mind, 
 ought not to be confined to one art only. It is by the 
 analogy that one art bears to another, that many things 
 are ascertained, which either were but faintly seen, or, 
 perhaps, would not have been discovered at all, if the 
 inventor had not received the first hints from the 
 practices of a sister art on a similar occasion.* The 
 frequent allusions which every man who treats of any 
 art is obliged to make to others, in order to illustrate 
 and confirm his principles, sufficiently show their near 
 connection and inseparable relation. 
 
 All arts having the same general end, which is to 
 please ; and addressing themselves to the same facul- 
 ties through the medium of the senses ; it follows that 
 their rules and principles must have as great affinity, 
 as the different materials and the different organs or 
 vehicles by which they pass to the mind, will permit 
 them to retain.f 
 
 We may therefore conclude, that the real sub- 
 stance, as it may be called, of what goes under the 
 name of taste, is fixed and established in the nature of 
 things ; that there are certain and regular causes by 
 which the imagination and passions of men are af- 
 fected ; and that the knowledge of these causes is 
 acquired by a laborious and diligent investigation of na- 
 ture, and by the same slow progress as wisdom or know- 
 
 * Nulla ars, non alterius artis, aut mater, aut popinqua est. 
 
 Tertull. as cited by Junius. 
 
 f Omnes artes quae ad humanitatem pertinent, habent quod- 
 dam commune vinculum, et quasi cognatione inter se continentur. 
 Cicero. 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 427 
 
 ledge of every kind, however instantaneous its oper- 
 ations may appear when thus acquired. 
 
 It has been often observed, that the good and vir- 
 tuous man alone can acquire this true or just relish 
 even of works of art. This opinion will not appear 
 entirely without foundation, when we consider that 
 the same habit of mind, which is acquired by our 
 search after truth, in the more serious duties of life, 
 is only transferred to the pursuit of lighter amuse- 
 ments. The same disposition, the same desire to find 
 something steady, substantial, and durable, on which 
 the mind can lean, as it were, and rest with safety, 
 actuates us in both cases. The subject only is changed. 
 We pursue the same method in our search after the 
 idea of beauty and perfection in each; of virtue, by 
 looking forwards beyond ourselves to society, and to 
 the whole; of arts, by extending our views in the 
 same manner, to all ages and all times. 
 
 Every art, like our own, has in its composition, 
 fluctuating as well as fixed principles. It is an at- 
 tentive enquiry into their difference, that will enable 
 us to determine how far we are influenced by custom and 
 habit, and what is fixed in the nature of things. 
 
 To distinguish how much has solid foundation, we 
 may have recourse to the same proof by which some 
 hold that wit ought to be tried; whether it preserves 
 itself when translated. That wit is false, which can 
 subsist only in one language; and that picture which 
 pleases only one age or one nation, owes its reception 
 to some local or accidental association of ideas. 
 
 We may apply this to every custom and habit of 
 life. Thus, the general principles of urbanity, polite- 
 ness, or civility, have been the same in all nations ; 
 but the mode in which they are dressed is continually 
 varying. The general idea of showing respect, is by 
 
428 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 making yourself less ; but the manner, whether by 
 bowing the body, kneeling, prostration, pulling off the 
 upper part of our dress, or taking away the lower,* is a 
 matter of custom. 
 
 Thus, in regard to ornaments, — it would be unjust 
 to conclude, that, because they were at first arbitrarily 
 contrived, they are therefore undeserving of our at- 
 tention ; on the contrary, he who neglects the culti- 
 vation of those ornaments, acts contrary to nature and 
 reason. As life would be imperfect without its high- 
 est ornaments, the Arts, so these arts themselves 
 would be imperfect without their ornaments. Though 
 we, by no means, ought to rank with these positive and 
 substantial beauties, yet it must be allowed, that a 
 knowledge of both is essentially requisite towards form- 
 ing a complete, whole, and perfect taste. It is in re- 
 ality from their ornaments, that arts receive their 
 peculiar character and complexion; we may add, that 
 in them we find the characteristical mark of a national 
 taste ; as, by throwing up a feather in the air, we know 
 which way the wind blows, better than by a more heavy 
 matter. 
 
 The striking distinction between the works of the Ro- 
 man, Bolognian, and Venetian schools, consists more in 
 that general effect which is produced by colours, than 
 in the more profound excellencies of the art ; at least it 
 is from thence that each is distinguished and known at 
 first sight. Thus it is the ornaments, rather than the 
 proportions of architecture, which at the first glance 
 distinguish the different orders from each other; the 
 Doric is known by its triglyphs, the Ionic by its vo- 
 lutes, and the Corinthian by its acanthus. 
 
 What distinguishes oratory from a cold narration is 
 
 * Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon 
 thou standest is holy ground. Exodus, iii. 5. 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 429 
 
 a more liberal, though chaste, use of those ornaments 
 which go under the name of figurative and metaphori- 
 cal expressions ; and poetry distinguishes itself from 
 oratory, by words and expressions still more ardent 
 and glowing. What separates and distinguishes poetry, 
 is more particularly the ornament of verse; it is this 
 which gives it its character, and is an essential without 
 which it cannot exist. Custom has appropriated dif- 
 ferent metre to different kinds of composition, in which 
 the world is not perfectly agreed. In England the 
 dispute is not yet settled, which is to be preferred, 
 rhyme or blank verse. But however we disagree 
 about what these metrical ornaments shall be, that 
 some metre is essentially necessary, is universally ac- 
 knowledged. 
 
 In poetry or eloquence, to determine how far figura- 
 tive or metaphorical language may proceed, and when it 
 begins to be affectation or beside the truth, must be 
 determined by taste ; though this taste, we must never 
 forget, is regulated and formed by the presiding feelings 
 of mankind, — by those works which have approved 
 themselves to all times and all persons. Thus, though 
 eloquence has undoubtedly an essential and intrinsic 
 excellence, and immoveable principles common to all 
 languages, founded in the nature of our passions and 
 affections ; yet it has its ornaments and modes of ad- 
 dress, which are merely arbitrary. "What is approved 
 in the eastern nations as grand and majestic, would be 
 considered by the Greeks and Romans as turgid and 
 inflated ; and they, in return, would be thought by the 
 Orientals to express themselves in a cold and insipid 
 manner. 
 
 We may add, likewise, to the credit of ornaments, 
 that it is by their means that Art itself accomplishes 
 its purpose. Fresnoy calls colouring, which is one of 
 
430 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 the chief ornaments of painting, lena sororis, that which 
 procures lovers and admirers to the more valuable ex- 
 cellencies of the art. 
 
 It appears to be the same right turn of mind which 
 enables a man to acquire the truth, or the just idea of 
 what is right, in the ornaments, as in the more stable 
 principles of art. It has still the same centre of per- 
 fection, though it is the centre of a smaller circle. 
 
 To illustrate this by the fashion of dress, in which 
 there is allowed to be a good or bad taste. The com- 
 ponent parts of dress are continually changing from 
 great to little, from short to long ; but the general form 
 still remains ; it is still the same general dress, which is 
 comparatively fixed, though on a very slender found- 
 ation ; but it is on this which fashion must rest. He 
 who invents with the most success, or dresses in the 
 best taste, would probably, from the same sagacity em- 
 ployed to greater purposes, have discovered equal skill, 
 or have formed the same correct taste, in the highest 
 labours of art. 
 
 I have mentioned taste in dress, which is certainly 
 one of the lowest subjects to which this word is applied ; 
 vet, as I have before observed, there is a right even 
 here, however narrow its foundation, respecting the 
 fashion of any particular nation. But we have still 
 more slender means of determining, to which of the 
 different customs of different ages or countries we 
 ought to give the preference, since they seem to be all 
 equally removed from nature. If an European, when 
 he has cut off his beard, and put false hair on his head, 
 or bound up his own natural hair in regular hard knots, 
 as unlike nature as he can possibly make it ; and after 
 having rendered them immoveable by the help of the 
 fat of hogs, has covered the whole with flour, laid on 
 by a machine with the utmost regularity ; if, when thus 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 431 
 
 attired, he issues forth, and meets a Cherokee Indian, 
 who has bestowed at much time as his toilet, and laid 
 on with equal care and attention his yellow and red 
 ochre on particular parts of his forehead or cheeks, as 
 he judges most becoming ; whoever of these two de- 
 spises the other for this attention to the fashion of his 
 country, which ever first feels himself provoked to 
 laugh, is the barbarian. 
 
 All these fashions are very innocent ; neither worth 
 disquisition, nor any endeavour to alter them ; as the 
 change would, in all probability, be equally distant from 
 nature. The only circumstance against which indigna- 
 tion may reasonably be moved, is, where the operation is 
 painful or destructive of health ; such as some of the 
 practices at Otaheite, and the straight lacing of the En- 
 glish ladies ; of the last of which practices, how destruc- 
 tive it must be to health and long life, the professor 
 of anatomy took an opportunity of proving a few days 
 since in this Academy. 
 
 It is in dress as in things of greater consequence. 
 Fashions originate from those only who have the high 
 and powerful advantages of rank, birth, and fortune. 
 Many of the ornaments of art, those at least for which 
 no reason can be given, are transmitted to us, are 
 adopted, and acquire their consequence from the com- 
 pany in which we have been used to see them. As 
 Greece and Rome are the fountains from whence have, 
 flowed all kinds of excellence, to that veneration which 
 they have a right to claim for the pleasure and know- 
 ledge which they have afforded us, we voluntarily add 
 our approbation of every ornament and every custom 
 that belonged to them, even to the fashion of their 
 dress. For it may be observed that, not satisfied with 
 them in their own place, we make no difficulty of 
 dressing statues of modern heroes or senators in the 
 
432 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 fashion of the Roman armour or peaceful rohe ; we go 
 so far as hardly to bear a statue in any other drapery. 
 
 The figures of the great men of those nations have 
 come down to us in sculpture. In sculpture remain 
 almost all the excellent specimens of ancient art. We 
 have so far associated personal dignity to the persons 
 thus represented, and the truth of art to their manner 
 of representation, that it is not in our power any longer 
 to separate them, This is not so in painting ; because 
 having no excellent ancient portraits, that connection 
 was never formed. Indeed we could no more venture 
 to paint a general officer in a Roman military habit, 
 than we could make a statue in the present uniform. 
 But since we have no ancient portraits, to show how 
 ready we are to adopt those kind of prejudices, we 
 make the best authority among the moderns serve the 
 same purpose. The great variety of excellent portraits 
 with which Vandyke has enriched this nation, we are 
 not content to admire for their real excellence, but 
 extend our approbation even to the dress which hap- 
 pened to be the fashion of that age. We all very well 
 remember how common it was a few years ago for 
 portraits to be drawn in this fantastic dress ; and this 
 custom is not yet entirely laid aside. By this means 
 it must be acknowledged very ordinary pictures ac- 
 quired something of the air and effect of the works of 
 Vandyke, and appeared therefore at first sight to be 
 better pictures than they really were ; they appeared 
 so, however, to those only who had the means of 
 making this association ; and when made, it was irre- 
 sistible. But this association is nature, and refers to 
 that secondary truth that comes from conformity to 
 general prejudice and opinion ; it is therefore not 
 merely fantastical. Besides the prejudice which we 
 have in favour of ancient dresses, there may be like- 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 433 
 
 wise other reasons for the effect which they produce ; 
 among which we may justly rank the simplicity of them, 
 consisting of little more than one single piece of drapery, 
 without those whimsical capricious forms by which all 
 other dresses are embarrassed. 
 
 Thus, though it is from the prejudice we have in 
 favour of the ancients, who have taught us archi- 
 tecture, that we have adopted likewise their orna- 
 ments ; and though we are satisfied that neither na- 
 ture nor reason are the foundation of those beauties 
 which we imagine we see in that art, yet if any one, 
 persuaded of this truth, should therefore invent new 
 orders of equal beauty, which we will suppose to be 
 possible, they would not please ; nor ought he to com- 
 plain, since the old has that great advantage of having 
 custom and prejudice on its side. In this case we 
 leave what has every prejudice in its favour, to take 
 that which will have no advantage over what we have 
 left, but novelty; which soon destroys itself, and at 
 any rate is but a weak antagonist against custom. 
 
 Ancient ornaments, having the right of possession, 
 ought not to be removed, unless to make room for 
 that which not only has higher pretensions, but such 
 pretensions as will balance the evil and confusion which 
 innovation always brings with it. 
 
 To this we may add, that even the durability of the 
 materials will often contribute to give a superiority to 
 one object over another. Ornaments in buildings, 
 with which taste is principally concerned, are com- 
 posed of materials which last longer than those of 
 which dress is composed; the former, therefore, make 
 higher pretensions to our favour and prejudice. 
 
 Some attention is surely due to what we can no 
 more get rid of, than we can go out of ourselves. We 
 are creatures of prejudice ; we neither can nor ought 
 
 VOL. I. f F 
 
434 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 to eradicate it; we must only regulate it by reason; 
 which kind of regulation is indeed little more than 
 obliging the lesser, the local and temporary prejudices, 
 to give way to those which are more durable and lasting. 
 
 He, therefore, who in his practice of portrait-painting, 
 wishes to dignify his subject, which we will suppose to 
 be a lady, will not paint her in the modern dress, the 
 familiarity of which alone is sufficient to destroy all 
 dignity. He takes care that his work shall correspond 
 to those ideas and that imagination which he knows 
 will regulate the judgment of others ; and, therefore, 
 dresses his figure something with the general air of 
 the antique for the sake of dignity, and preserves 
 something of the modern for the sake of likeness. By 
 this conduct his works correspond with those prejudices 
 which we have in favour of what we continually see; 
 and the relish of the antique simplicity corresponds 
 with what we may call the more learned and scientific 
 prejudice. 
 
 There was a statue made not long since of Voltaire, 
 which the sculptor, not having that respect tor the 
 prejudices of mankind which he ought to have had, 
 made entirely naked, and as meagre and emaciated as 
 the original is said to be. The consequence was what 
 might have been expected : it remained in the sculp- 
 tor's shop, though it was intended as a public orna- 
 ment and a public honour to Voltaire, for it was pro- 
 cured at the expence of his contemporary wits and 
 admirers. 
 
 Whoever would reform a nation, supposing a bad 
 taste to prevail in it, will not accomplish his purpose 
 by going directly against the stream of their prejudices. 
 Men's minds must be prepared to receive what is new 
 to them. Reformation is a work of time. A national 
 taste, however wrong it may be, cannot be totally 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 435 
 
 changed at once; we must yield a little to the pre- 
 possession which has taken hold on the mind, and we 
 may then bring people to adopt what would offend 
 them, if endeavoured to be introduced by violence. 
 When Battista Franco was employed, in conjunction 
 with Titian, Paul Veronese and Tintoret, to adorn 
 the library of St. Mark, his work, Vasari says, gave 
 less satisfaction than any of the others : the dry man- 
 ner of the Roman school was very ill calculated to 
 please eyes that had been accustomed to the luxuriancy, 
 splendour, and richness of Venetian colouring. Had 
 the Romans been the judges of this work, probably 
 the determination would have been just contrary; for 
 in the more noble parts of the art Battista Franco 
 was perhaps not inferior to any of his rivals. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 It has been the main scope and principal end of 
 this discourse to demonstrate the reality of a standard 
 in taste, as well as in corporeal beauty ; that a false or 
 depraved taste is a thing as well known, as easily dis- 
 covered, as any thing that is deformed, mis-shapen, 
 or wrong, in our form or outward make ; and that this 
 knowledge is derived from the uniformity of sentiments 
 among mankind, from whence proceeds the knowledge 
 of what are the general habits of nature; the result 
 of which is an idea of perfect beauty. 
 
 If what has been advanced be true, — that beside 
 this beauty or truth, which is formed on the uniform, 
 eternal, and immutable laws of nature, and which of 
 necessity can be but one; that beside this one im- 
 mutable verity there are likewise what we have called 
 apparent or secondary truths, proceeding from local 
 and temporary prejudices, fancies, fashions or acci- 
 dental connection of ideas; if it appears that these 
 v p 2 
 
436 
 
 THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 last have still their foundation, however slender, in the 
 original fabric of our minds ; it follows that all these 
 truths or beauties deserve and require the attention 
 of the artist, in proportion to their stability or duration, 
 or as their influence is more or less extensive. And 
 let me add, that as they ought not to pass their just 
 bounds, so neither do they, in a well-regulated taste, 
 at all prevent or weaken the influence of those general 
 principles, which alone can give to art its true and per- 
 manent dignity. 
 
 To form this just taste is undoubtedly in your own 
 power, but it is to reason and philosophy that you 
 must have recourse ; from them you must borrow the 
 balance, by which is to be weighed and estimated the 
 value of every pretension that intrudes itself on your 
 notice. 
 
 The general objection which is made to the intro- 
 duction of Philosophy into the regions of taste, is, that 
 it checks and restrains the flights of the imagination, 
 and gives that timidity, which an over- carefulness not 
 to err or act contrary to reason is likely to produce. 
 It is not so. Fear is neither reason nor philosophy. 
 The true spirit of philosophy, by giving knowledge, 
 gives a manly confidence, and substitutes rational firm- 
 ness in the place of vain presumption. A man of real 
 taste is always a man of judgment in other respects ; 
 and those inventions which either disdain or shrink 
 from reason, are generally, I fear, more like the dreams 
 of a distempered brain, than the exalted enthusiasm of 
 a sound and true genius. In the midst of the highest 
 flights of fancy or imagination, reason ought to pre- 
 side from first to last, though I admit her more powerful 
 operation is upon reflection. 
 
 Let me add, that some of the greatest names of an- 
 tiquity, and those who have most distinguished them- 
 
THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 437 
 
 selves in works of genius and imagination, were equally 
 eminent for their critical skill. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, 
 and Horace ; and among the moderns, Boileau, Corneille, 
 Pope, and Dryden, are at least instances of genius not 
 being destroyed by attention or subjection to rules and 
 science. I should hope, therefore, that the natural con- 
 sequence of what has been said, would be, to excite in 
 you a desire of knowing the principles and conduct of 
 the great masters of our art, and respect and veneration 
 for them when known. 
 
438 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribu- 
 tion of the Prizes, December 10. 1778. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OP ART, WHETHER POETRY OR PAINTING, HAVE 
 THEIR FOUNDATION IN THE MIND ; SUCH AS NOVELTY, VARIETY, 
 AND CONTRAST; THESE IN THEIR EXCESS BECOME DEFECTS. — 
 SIMPLICITY, ITS EXCESS DISAGREEABLE. — RULES NOT TO BE 
 ALWAYS OBSERVED IN THEIR LITERAL SENSE : SUFFICIENT TO 
 
 PRESERVE THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW. OBSERVATIONS ON THE 
 
 PRIZE PICTURES. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 I have recommended in former* discourses, that 
 Artists should learn their profession hy endeavouring 
 to form an idea of perfection from the different excellen- 
 cies which he dispersed in the various schools of paint- 
 ing. Some difficulty will still occur, to know what is 
 beauty, and where it may be found : one would wish 
 not to be obliged to take it entirely on the credit of 
 fame ; though to this, I acknowledge, the younger 
 students must unavoidably submit. Any suspicion 
 in them of the chance of their being deceived, will 
 have more tendency to obstruct their advancement, 
 than even an enthusiastic confidence in the^ perfection 
 of their models. But to the more advanced in the art, 
 who wish to stand on more stable and firmer ground, 
 and to establish principles on a stronger foundation 
 than authority, however venerable or powerful, it may 
 be safely told that there is still a higher tribunal, to which 
 
 Discourses II. and VI. 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 439 
 
 those great masters themselves must submit, and to 
 which indeed every excellence in art must be ulti- 
 mately referred. He who is ambitious to enlarge the 
 boundaries of his art, must extend his views, beyond 
 the precepts which are found in books or may be drawn 
 from the practice of his predecessors, to a knowledge 
 of those precepts in the mind, those operations of 
 intellectual nature, — to which every thing that as- 
 pires to please, must be proportioned and accom- 
 modated. 
 
 Poetry having a more extensive power than our art, 
 exerts its influence over almost all the passions ; 
 among those may be reckoned one of our most prevalent 
 dispositions, anxiety for the future. Poetry operates 
 by raising our curiosity, engaging the mind by degrees 
 to take an interest jn the event, keeping that event 
 suspended, and surprising at last with an unexpected 
 catastrophe. 
 
 The painter's art is more confined, and has nothing 
 that corresponds with, or perhaps is equivalent to, this 
 power and advantage of leading the mind on, till atten- 
 tion is totally engaged. What is done by Painting, 
 must be done at one blow ; curiosity has received at 
 once all the satisfaction it can ever have. There are, 
 however, other intellectual qualities and dispositions 
 which the Painter can satisfy and affect as powerfully 
 as the poet : among those we may reckon our love of 
 novelty, variety, and contrast; these qualities, on ex- 
 amination, will be found to refer to a certain activity and 
 restlessness which has a pleasure and delight in being 
 exercised and put in motion : Art therefore only ad- 
 ministers to those wants and desires of the mind. 
 
 It requires no long disquisition to show, that the 
 dispositions which I have stated actually subsist in the 
 human mind. Variety re-animates the attention, which 
 f f 4 
 
440 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 is apt to languish under a continual sameness. Novelty- 
 makes a more forcible impression on the mind, than 
 can be made by the representation of what we have 
 often seen before ; and contrasts rouse the power of 
 comparison by opposition. All this is obvious ; but, on 
 the other hand, it must be remembered, that the mind, 
 though an active principle, has likewise a disposition 
 to indolence ; and though it loves exercise, loves it 
 only to a certain degree, beyond which it is very unwill- 
 ing to be led, or driven ; the pursuit therefore of novelty 
 and variety may be carried to excess. When variety 
 entirely destroys the pleasure proceeding from uniformity 
 and repetition, and when novelty counteracts and shuts 
 out the pleasure arising from old habits and customs, 
 they oppose too much the indolence of our disposition : 
 the mind therefore can bear with pleasure but a small 
 portion of novelty at a time. The main part of the 
 work must be in the mode to which we have been used. 
 An affection to old habits and customs I take to be the 
 predominant disposition of the mind, and novelty comes 
 as an exception; where all is novelty, the attention, 
 the exercise of the mind is too violent. Contrast, in 
 the same manner, when it exceeds certain limits, is as 
 disagreeable as a violent and perpetual opposition; it 
 gives to the senses, in their progress, a more sudden 
 change than they can bear with pleasure. 
 
 It is then apparent, that those qualities, however they 
 contribute to the perfection of Art, when kept within 
 certain bounds, if they are carried to excess, become 
 defects, and require correction : a work consequently will 
 not proceed better and better as it is more varied ; 
 variety can never be the ground- work and principle of 
 the performance — it must be only employed to recreate 
 and relieve. 
 
 To apply these general observations which belong 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 441 
 
 equally to all arts, to ours in particular. In a compo- 
 sition, when the objects are scattered and divided into 
 many equal parts, the eye is perplexed and fatigued, 
 from not knowing where to find the principal action, or 
 which is the principal figure ; for where all are making 
 equal pretensions to notice, all are in equal danger of 
 neglect. 
 
 The expression which is used very often, on these 
 occasions is, the piece wants repose ; a word which 
 perfectly expresses a relief of the mind from that state of 
 hurry and anxiety which it suffers, when looking at a 
 work of this character. 
 
 On the other hand, absolute unity, that is, a large 
 work, consisting of one group or mass of fight only, 
 would be as defective as an heroic poem without 
 episode, or any collateral incidents to recreate the 
 mind with that variety which it always requires. 
 
 An instance occurs to me of two painters (Rem- 
 brandt and Poussin), of characters totally opposite to 
 each other in every respect, but in nothing more than 
 in their mode of composition, and management of light 
 and shadow. Rembrandt's manner is absolute unity j 
 he often has hut one group, and exhibits little more 
 than one spot of light in the midst of a large quantity 
 of shadow : if he has a second mass, that second bears 
 no proportion to the principal. Poussin, on the con- 
 trary, has scarce any principal mass of light at all, and 
 his figures are often too much dispersed, without 
 sufficient attention to place them in groups. 
 
 The conduct of these two painters is entirely the re- 
 verse of what might be expected from their general 
 style and character ; the works of Poussin being as much 
 distinguished for simplicity, as those of Rembrandt for 
 combination. Even this conduct of Poussin might 
 proceed from too great an affection to simplicity of 
 
442 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 another kind; too great a desire to avoid that ostentation 
 of art, with regard to light and shadow, on which Rem- 
 brandt so much wished to draw the attention ; how- 
 ever, each of them ran into contrary extremes, and it 
 is difficult to determine which is the most reprehen- 
 sible, both being equally distant from the demands of 
 nature, and the purposes of art. 
 
 The same just moderation must be observed in re- 
 gard to ornaments ; nothing will contribute more to 
 destroy repose than profusion, of whatever kind, 
 whether it consists in the multiplicity of objects, or 
 the variety and brightness of colours. On the other 
 hand, a work without ornament, instead of simplicity, 
 to which it makes pretensions, has rather the appear- 
 ance of poverty. The degree to which ornaments are 
 admissible, must be regulated by the professed style 
 of the work ; but we may be sure of this truth, — that 
 the most ornamental style requires repose to set off 
 even its ornaments to advantage. I cannot avoid 
 mentioning here an instance of repose, in that faith- 
 ful and accurate painter of nature, Shakspeare ; the 
 short dialogue between Duncan and Banquo, whilst 
 they are approaching the gates of Macbeth's castle. 
 Their conversation very naturally turns upon the 
 beauty of its situation, and the pleasantness of the 
 air : and Banquo observing the martlets' nests in every 
 recess of the cornice, remarks, that where those birds 
 most breed and haunt, the air is delicate. The sub- 
 ject of this quiet and easy conversation gives that 
 repose so necessary to the mind, after the tumultuous 
 bustle of the preceding scenes, and perfectly contrasts 
 the scene of horror that immediately succeeds. It 
 seems as if Shakspeare asked himself, what is a prince 
 likely to say to his attendants on such an occasion ? 
 The modern writers seem, on the contrary, to be al- 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 443 
 
 ways searching for new thoughts, such as never could 
 occur to man in the situation represented. This is 
 also frequently the practice of Homer ; who, from the 
 midst of battles and horrors, relieves and refreshes the 
 mind of the reader, by introducing some quiet rural 
 image, or picture of familiar domestic life. The writers 
 of every age and country, where taste has begun to 
 decline, paint and adorn every object they touch ; are 
 always on the stretch ; never deviate or sink a moment 
 from the pompous and the brilliant. Lucan, Statius, 
 and Claudian, (as a learned critic has observed,) are 
 examples of this bad taste and want of judgment ; they 
 never soften their tones, or condescend to be natural ; 
 all is exaggeration and perpetual splendour, without 
 affording repose of any kind. 
 
 As we are speaking of excesses, it will not be re- 
 mote from our purpose to say a few words upon sim- 
 plicity ; which, in one of the senses in which it is used, 
 is considered as the general corrector of excess. We 
 shall at present forbear to consider it as implying that 
 exact conduct which proceeds from an intimate know- 
 ledge of simple unadulterated nature, as it is then only 
 another word for perfection, which neither stops short 
 of, nor oversteps, reality and truth. 
 
 In our inquiry after simplicity, as in many other 
 inquiries of this nature, we can best explain what is 
 right, by showing what is wrong ; and indeed, in this 
 case it seems to be absolutely necessary: simphcity, 
 being only a negative virtue, cannot be described or 
 defined. "We must therefore explain its nature, and 
 show the advantage and beauty which is derived from 
 it, by showing the deformity which proceeds from its 
 neglect. 
 
 Though instances of this neglect might be expected 
 to be found in practice, we should not expect to find 
 
444 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 in the works of critics, precept3 that bid defiance to 
 simplicity and every thing that relates to it. Du Piles 
 recommends to us portrait- painters, to add grace and 
 dignity to the characters of those, whose pictures we 
 draw : so far he is undoubtedly right ; but, unluckily, 
 he descends to particulars, and gives his own idea of 
 grace and dignity, " If" says he, " you draw persons of 
 high character and dignity, they ought to be drawn in 
 such an attitude, that the Portraits must seem to speak 
 to us of themselves, and, as it were, to say to us, ' Stop, 
 take notice of me, I am that invincible King, surrounded 
 by Majesty : ' I am that valiant commander, who struck 
 terror every where:' ' I am that great minister, who 
 knew all the springs of politics :' ' I am that magistrate of 
 consummate wisdom and probity.' " He goes on in this 
 manner, with all the characters he can think on. We 
 may contrast the tumour of this presumptuous lofti- 
 ness with the natural unaffected air of the portraits of 
 Titian, where dignity, seeming to be natural and in- 
 herent, draws spontaneous reverence, and instead of 
 being thus vainly assumed, has the appearance of an 
 unalienable adjunct ; whereas such pompous and la- 
 boured insolence of grandeur is so far from creating 
 respect, that it betrays vulgarity and meanness, and 
 new- acquired consequence. 
 
 The painters, many of them at least, have not been 
 backward in adopting the notions contained in these 
 precepts. The portraits of Rigaud are perfect ex- 
 amples of an implicit observance of these rules of Du 
 Piles ; so that though he was a painter of great merit in 
 many respects, yet that merit is entirely overpowered 
 by a total absence of simplicity in every sense. 
 
 Not to multiply instances, which might be produced 
 for this purpose, from the works of history-painters, I 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 445 
 
 shall mention only one, — a picture which I have seen, 
 of the Supreme Being, by Coypell. 
 
 This subject the Roman Catholic painters have taken 
 the liberty to represent, however indecent the attempt, 
 and however obvious the impossibility of any approach 
 to an adequate representation ; but here the air and 
 character which the Painter has given, and he has 
 doubtless given the highest he could conceive, are so 
 degraded by an attempt at such dignity as De Piles has 
 recommended, that we are enraged at the folly and 
 presumption of the artist, and consider it as little less 
 than profanation". 
 
 As we have passed to a neighbouring nation for 
 instances of want of this quality, we must acknow- 
 ledge at the same time, that they have produced great 
 examples of simplicity, in Poussin and Le Sueur. 
 But as we are speaking of the most refined and subtle 
 notion of perfection, may we not enquire, whether a 
 curious eye cannot discern some faults, even in those 
 great men? I can fancy, that even Poussin, by ab- 
 horring that affectation and that want of simplicity, 
 which he observed in his countrymen, has, in certain 
 particulars, fallen into the contrary extreme, so far as to 
 approach to a kind of affectation : — to what, in writing, 
 would be called pedantry. 
 
 When simplicity, instead of being a corrector, seems 
 to set up for herself ; that is, when an artist seems to 
 value himself solely upon this quality ; such an ostenta- 
 tious display of simplicity becomes then as disagree- 
 able and nauseous as any other kind of affectation. 
 He is, however, in this case, likely enough to sit down 
 contented with his own work, for though he finds the 
 world look at it with indifference or dislike, as being 
 destitute of every quality that can recreate or give 
 pleasure to the mind, yet he consoles himself that it 
 
446 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE 
 
 has simplicity, a beauty of too pure and chaste a nature 
 to be relished by vulgar minds. 
 
 It is in art as in morals ; no character would inspire 
 us with an enthusiastic admiration of his virtue, if that 
 virtue consisted only in an absence of vice ; something 
 more is required ; a man must do more than merely his 
 duty, to be a hero. 
 
 Those works of the ancients, which are in the 
 highest esteem, have something beside mere simplicity 
 to recommend them. The Apollo, the Venus, the 
 Laocoon, the Gladiator, have a certain composition of 
 action, have contrasts sufficient to give grace and energy 
 in a high degree ; but it must be confessed of the many 
 thousand antique statues which we have, that their 
 general characteristic is bordering at least on inanimate 
 insipidity. 
 
 Simplicity, when so very inartificial as to seem to 
 evade the difficulties of art, is a very suspicious virtue. 
 
 I do not, however, wish to degrade simplicity from 
 the high estimation in which it has been ever justly held. 
 It is our barrier against that great enemy to truth 
 and nature, Affectation, which is ever clinging to the 
 pencil, and ready to drop in and poison every thing it 
 touches. 
 
 Our love and affection to simplicity proceeds in a 
 great measure from our aversion to every kind of af- 
 fectation. There is likewise another reason why so 
 much stress is laid upon this virtue ; the propensity 
 which artists have to fall into the contrary extreme ; 
 we therefore set a guard on that side which is most 
 assailable. When a young artist is first told, that his 
 composition and his attitudes must be contrasted, that 
 he must turn the head contrary to the position of the 
 body, in order to produce grace and animation ; that 
 his outline must be undulating, and swelling, to give 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 447 
 
 grandeur; and that the eye must be gratified with a 
 variety of colours ; when he is told this, with certain 
 animating words of Spirit, Dignity, Energy, Grace, 
 greatness of Style, and brilliancy of Tints, he becomes 
 suddenly vain of his newly acquired knowledge, and 
 never thinks he can carry those rules too far. It is 
 then that the aid of simplicity ought to be called in 
 to correct the exuberance of youthful ardour. 
 
 The same may be said in regard to colouring, which 
 in its pre-eminence is particularly applied to flesh. 
 An artist in his first essay of imitating nature, would 
 make the whole mass of one colour, as the oldest 
 painters did ; till he is taught to observe not only the 
 variety of tints, which are in the object itself, but the 
 differences produced by the gradual decline of light to 
 shadow; he then immediately puts his instruction in 
 practice, and introduces a variety of distinct colours. 
 He must then be again corrected and told, that though 
 there is this variety, yet the effect of the whole upon 
 the eye must have the union and simplicity of the 
 colouring of nature. 
 
 And here we may observe, that the progress of an 
 individual Student bears a great resemblance to the 
 progress and advancement of the Art itself. Want of 
 simplicity would probably be not one of the defects of 
 an artist who had studied nature only, as it was 
 not of the old masters, who lived in the time preceding 
 the great Art of Painting ; on the contrary, their works 
 are too simple and too inartificial. 
 
 The Art in its infancy, like the first work of a Stu- 
 dent, was dry, hard, and simple. But this kind of 
 barbarous simplicity would be better named Penury, 
 as it proceeds from mere want ; from want of know- 
 ledge, want of resources, want of abilities to be other- 
 
448 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 wise ; their simplicity was the offspring, not of choice, 
 but necessity. 
 
 In the second stage they were sensible of this 
 poverty ; and those who were the most sensible of the 
 want, were the best judges of the measure of the sup- 
 ply. There were painters who emerged from poverty 
 without falling into luxury. Their success induced 
 others, who probably never would of themselves have 
 had strength of mind to discover the original defect, to 
 endeavour at the remedy by an abuse ; and they ran 
 into the contrary extreme. But however they may 
 have strayed, we cannot recommend to them to return 
 to that simplicity which they have justly quitted ; but 
 to deal out their abundance with a more sparing hand, 
 with that dignity which makes no parade, either of its 
 riches, or of its art. It is not easy to give a rule which 
 may serve to fix this just and correct medium ; be- 
 cause when we may have fixed, or nearly fixed the 
 middle point, taken as a general principle, circumstances 
 may oblige us to depart from it, either on the side of 
 Simplicity, or on that of Variety and Decoration. 
 
 I thought it necessary in a former discourse, speak- 
 ing of the difference of the sublime and ornamental 
 style of painting, — in order to excite your attention to 
 the more manly, noble, and dignified manner — to leave 
 perhaps an impression too contemptuous of those orna- 
 mental parts of our Art, for which many have valued 
 themselves, and many works are much valued and 
 esteemed. 
 
 I said then, what I thought it was right at that time 
 to say ; I supposed the disposition of young men more 
 inclinable to splendid negligence, than perseverance in 
 laborious application to acquire correctness : and there- 
 fore did as we do in making what is crooked straight, 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 449 
 
 by bending it the contrary way, in order that it mav 
 remain straight at last. 
 
 For this purpose, then, and to correct excess or ne- 
 glect of any kind, we may here add, that it is not 
 enough that a work be learned ; it must be pleasing ; 
 the painter must add grace to strength, if he desires to 
 secure the first impression in his favour. Our taste 
 has a kind of sensuality about it, as well as a love of 
 the sublime; both these qualities of the mind are to 
 have their proper consequence, as far as they do not 
 counteract each other; for that is the grand error 
 which much care ought to be taken to avoid. 
 
 There are some rules, whose absolute authority, 
 hke that of our nurses, continues no longer than while 
 we are in a state of childhood. One of the first rules, 
 for instance, that I believe every master would give to' 
 a young pupil, respecting his conduct and manage- 
 ment of light and shadow, would be what Lionardo da 
 Vmci has actually given; that you must oppose a 
 light ground to the shadowed side of your figure and 
 a dark ground to the light side. If Lionardo had 'lived 
 to see the superior splendour and effect which has 
 been since produced by the exactly contrarv conduct, 
 — by joining light to light and shadow to shadow] 
 —though without doubt he would have admired it,' 
 yet, as it ought not, so probably it would not be the 
 first rule with which he would have begun his in- 
 structions. 
 
 Again; in the artificial management of the figures, 
 it is directed that they shaU contrast each other ac- 
 cording to the rules generally given ; that if one figure 
 opposes his front to the spectator, the next figure 
 is to have his back turned, and that the limbs of each 
 individual figure be contrasted; that is, if the right 
 
 VOL. I. g G 
 
450 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 leg be put forward, the right arm is to be drawn 
 back. 
 
 It is very proper that those rules should be given 
 in the Academy; it is proper the young students 
 should be informed that some research is to be made, 
 and that they should be habituated to consider every 
 excellence as reducible to principles. Besides, it is 
 the natural progress of instruction to teach first what 
 is obvious and perceptible to the senses, and from 
 hence proceed gradually to notions large, liberal, and 
 complete, such as comprise the more refined and 
 higher excellencies in Art. But when students are 
 more advanced, they will find that the greatest beau- 
 ties of character and expression are produced without 
 contrast; nay more, that this contrast would ruin and 
 destroy that natural energy of men engaged in real 
 action, unsolicitous of grace. St. Paul preaching at 
 Athens, in one of the Cartoons, far from any affected 
 academical contrast of limbs, stands equally on both 
 legs, and both hands are in the same attitude : add 
 contrast, and the whole energy and unaffected grace 
 of the figure is destroyed. Elymas the sorcerer 
 stretches both hands forward in the same direction, 
 which gives perfectly the expression intended. In- 
 deed you never will find in the works of Raffaelle 
 any of those school-boy affected contrasts. Whatever 
 contrast there is, appears without any seeming agency 
 of art, by the natural chance of things. 
 
 What has been said of the evil of excesses of all 
 Kinds, whether of simplicity, variety, or contrast, na- 
 turallv suggests to the painter the necessity of a general 
 inquiry into the true meaning and cause of rules, and 
 how they operate on those faculties to which they are 
 addressed: by knowing their general purpose and 
 meaning, he will often find that he need not confine 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 45 t 
 
 himself to the literal sense ; it will be sufficient if he 
 preserve the spirit of the law,. 
 
 Critical remarks are not always understood without 
 examples : it may not he improper, therefore, to give 
 instances where the rule itself, though generally re- 
 ceived is false, or where a narrow conception of it 
 may lead the artists into great errors. 
 
 It is given as a rule by Fresnoy, That the principal 
 figure of a subject must appear in the midst of the picture, 
 under the principal light, to distinguish it from the rest. 
 A painter who should think himself obliged secretly to 
 follow this rule, would encumber himself with needless 
 difficulties ; he would be confined to great uniformity 
 of composition, and be deprived of many beauties 
 which are incompatible with its observance. The 
 meaning of this rule extends, or ought to extend, no 
 further than this : — That the principal figure should 
 be immediately distinguished at the first glance of the 
 eye; but there is no necessity that the principal light 
 should fall on the principal figure, or that the prin- 
 cipal figure should be in the middle of the picture. It 
 is sufficient that it be distinguished by its place, or by 
 the attention of other figures pointing it out to the 
 spectator. So far is this rule from being indispensable, 
 that it is very seldom practised; other considerations 
 of greater consequence often standing in the way. 
 Examples in opposition to this rule, are found in the 
 Cartoons, in Christ's Charge to Peter, the Preaching 
 of St. Paul, and Elymas the Sorcerer, who is un- 
 doubtedly the principal object in that picture. In none 
 of those compositions is the principal figure in the midst 
 of the picture. In the very admirable composition of 
 the Tent of Darius, by Le Brun, Alexander is not in 
 the middle of the picture, nor does the principal light 
 fall on him ; but the attention of all the other figures 
 g g 2 
 
452 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 immediately distinguishes him, and distinguishes him 
 more properly ; the greatest light falls on the daughter 
 of Darius, who is in the middle of the picture, where 
 it is more necessary the principal light should be 
 placed. 
 
 It is very extraordinary that Felibien, who has given 
 a very minute description of this picture, but indeed 
 such a description as may be called rather panegyric 
 than criticism, thinking it necessary (according to the 
 precept of Fresnoy) that Alexander should possess 
 the principal light, has accordingly given it to him ; he 
 might with equal truth have said that he was placed 
 in the middle of the picture, as he seemed resolved to 
 give this piece every kind of excellence which he con- 
 ceived to be necessary to perfection. His generosity 
 is here unluckily misapplied, as it would have de- 
 stroyed, in a great measure, the beauty of the com- 
 position. 
 
 Another instance occurs to me, where equal liberty 
 may be taken in regard to the management of light. 
 Though the general practice is, to make a large mass 
 about the middle of the picture surrounded by shadow, 
 the reverse may be practised, and the spirit of the rule 
 may still be preserved. Examples of this principle 
 reversed may be found very frequently in the works of 
 the Venetian School. In the great composition of Paul 
 Veronese, the Marriage at Cana, the figures are, 
 for the most part, in half shadow ; the great light is in 
 the sky; and indeed, the general effect of this picture, 
 which is so striking, is no more than what we often 
 see in landscapes, in small pictures of fairs and country 
 feasts ; but those principles of light and shadow, being 
 transferred to a large scale, to a space containing near 
 a hundred figures as large as life, and conducted to all 
 appearance with as much facility, and with an attention 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 453 
 
 as steadily fixed upon the whole together, as if it were a 
 small picture immediately under the eye, the work justly 
 excites our admiration ; the difficulty being increased as 
 the extent is enlarged. 
 
 The various modes of composition are infinite; 
 sometimes it shall consist of one large group in the 
 middle of the picture, and the smaller groups on each 
 side ; or a plain space in the middle, and the groups of 
 figures ranked round this vacuity. 
 
 Whether this principal broad light be in the middle 
 space of ground, as in the School of Athens ; or in 
 the sky, as in the Marriage at Cana, in the 
 Andromeda, and in most of the pictures of Paul 
 Veronese ; or whether the light be on the groups ; 
 whatever mode of composition is adopted, every variety 
 and license is allowable : this only is indisputably ne- 
 cessary, that to prevent the eye from being distracted 
 and confused by a multiplicity of objects of equal 
 magnitude, those objects, whether they consist of 
 lights, shadows, or figures, must be disposed in large 
 masses and groups properly varied and contrasted ; 
 that to ' a certain quantity of action a proportioned 
 space of plain ground is required; that light is to be 
 supported by sufficient shadow ; and we may add, that 
 a certain quantity of cold colours is necessary to give 
 value and lustre to the warm colours : what those pro- 
 portions are cannot be so well learnt by precept as by 
 observation on pictures, and in this knowledge bad 
 pictures will instruct as well as good. Our inquiry 
 why pictures have a bad effect, may be as advantageous 
 as the inquiry why they , have a good effect ; each will 
 corroborate the principles that are suggested by the 
 other. 
 
 Though it is not my business to enter into the detail 
 of our Art, yet I must take this opportunity of men- 
 e G 3 
 
454 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 tioning one of the means of producing that great effect 
 which we observe in the works of the Venetian painters, 
 as I think it is not generally known or observed. It 
 ought, in my opinion, to be indispensably observed, 
 that the masses of light in a picture be always of a 
 warm mellow colour, yellow, red, or a yellowish-white ; 
 and that the blue, the grey, or the green colours be 
 kept almost entirely out of these masses, and be used 
 only to support and set off these warm colours ; and 
 for tliis purpose, a small proportion of cold colours will 
 be sufficient. 
 
 Let this conduct be reversed ; let the light be cold, 
 and the surrounding colours warm, as we often see in 
 the works of the Roman and Florentine painters, and 
 it will be out of the power of art, even in the hands of 
 Rubens or Titian, to make a picture splendid and har- 
 monious. 
 
 Le Brun and Carlo Maratti were two painters of 
 great merit, and particularly what may be called Aca- 
 demical Merit, but were both deficient in this manage- 
 ment of colours ; the want of observing this rule is one 
 of the causes of that heaviness of effect which is so 
 observable in their works. The principal light in the 
 Picture of Le Brun, which I just now mentioned, falls 
 on Statira, who is dressed very injudiciously in a pale 
 blue drapery : it is true, he has heightened this blue 
 with gold, but that is not enough; the whole picture 
 has a heavy air, and by no means answers the expect- 
 ation raised by the print. Poussin often made a spot 
 of blue drapery, when the general hue of the picture 
 was inclinable to brown or yellow ; which shows suffi- 
 ciently, that harmony of colouring was not a part of the 
 art that had much engaged the attention of that great 
 painter. 
 
 The conduct of Titian in the picture of Bacchu 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 455 
 
 and Ariadne, has been much celebrated, and justly, for 
 the harmony of colouring. To Ariadne is given (say the 
 critics) a red scarf, to relieve the figure from the sea, 
 which is behind her. It is not for that reason, alone, 
 but for another of much greater consequence ; for the 
 sake of the general harmony and effect of the picture. 
 The figure of Ariadne is separated from the great 
 group, and is dressed in blue, which added to the co- 
 lour of the sea, makes that quantity of cold colour which 
 Titian thought necessary for the support and brilliancy 
 of the great group ; which group is composed, with very 
 little exception, entirely of mellow colours. But as the 
 picture in this case would be divided into two distinct 
 parts, one half cold, and the other warm, it was ne- 
 cessary to carry some of the mellow colours of the great 
 group into the cold part of the picture, and a part of 
 the cold into the great group ; accordingly Titian gave 
 Ariadne a red scarf, and to one of the Bacchante a little 
 blue drapery. 
 
 The fight of the picture, as I observed, ought to be 
 of a warm colour ; for though white may be used for 
 the principal light, as was the practice of many of the 
 Dutch and Flemish painters, yet it is better to suppose 
 that white illumined by the yellow rays of the setting 
 sun, as was the manner of Titian. The superiority of 
 which manner is never more striking than when in a 
 collection of pictures we chance to see a portrait of 
 Titian's hanging by the side of a Flemish picture (even 
 though that should be of the hand of Vandyck), which, 
 however admirable in other respects, becomes cold and 
 grey in the comparison. 
 
 The illuminated parts of objects are in nature of a 
 warmer tint than those that are in the shade ; what I 
 have recommended, therefore, is no more than that 
 the same conduct be observed in the whole, which is 
 n g 4 
 
456 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 acknowledged to be necessary in every individual part. 
 It is presenting to the eye the same effect as that 
 which it has been accustomed to feel, which, in this case, 
 as in every other, will always produce beauty ; no prin- 
 ciple, therefore, in our art can be more certain, or is 
 derived from a higher source. 
 
 When I just now mentioned of the supposed reason 
 why Ariadne has part of her drapery red, gives me 
 occasion here to observe, that this favourite quality of 
 giving objects relief, and which De Piles and all the 
 Critics have considered as a requisite of the utmost im- 
 portance, was not one of those objects which much 
 engaged the attention of Titian ; painters of an inferior 
 rank have far exceeding him in producing this effect. 
 This was a great object of attention, when art was in 
 its infant state ; as it is at present with the vulgar and 
 ignorant, who feel the highest satisfaction in seeing a 
 figure, which, as they say, looks as if they could walk 
 round it. But however low I may rate this pleasure 
 of deception, I should not oppose it, did it not oppose 
 itself to a quality of a much higher kind, by counter- 
 acting entirely that fulness of manner which is so 
 difficult to express in words, but which is found in per- 
 fection in the best works of Correggio, and we may 
 add, of Rembrandt. This effect is produced by melt- 
 ing and losing the shadows in a ground still darker 
 than those shadows; whereas that relief is produced 
 by opposing and separating the ground from the figure, 
 either by light, or shadow, or colour. This conduct of 
 in-laying, as it may be called, figures on their ground, 
 in order to produce relief, was the practice of the old 
 Painters, such as Andrea Mantegna, Pietro Perugino, 
 and Albert Durer ; and to these we may add the first 
 manner of Lionardo da Vinci, Giorgione, and even Cor- 
 reggio ; but these three were among the first who 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 457 
 
 began to correct themselves in dryness of style, by no 
 longer considering relief as a principal object. As those 
 two qualities, relief, and fulness of effect, can hardly 
 exist together, it is not very difficult to determine to 
 which we ought to give the preference. An artist is 
 obliged for ever to hold a balance in his hand, by which 
 he must determine the value of different qualities ; that, 
 when some fault must be committed, he may choose 
 the least. Those painters who have best understood 
 the art of producing a good effect, have adopted one 
 principle that seems perfectly conformable to reason ; 
 that a part may be sacrificed for the good of the whole. 
 Thus, whether the masses consist of light or shadow, 
 it is necessary that they should be compact and of a 
 pleasing shape: to this end some parts may be made 
 darker and some lighten, and reflections stronger than 
 nature would warrant. Paid Veronese took great li- 
 berties of this kind. It is said, that being once asked 
 why certain figures were painted in shade, as no cause 
 was seen in the picture itself, he turned off the inquiry 
 by answering, " una nuevola che passu," a cloud is pass- 
 ing, which has overshadowed them. 
 
 But I cannot give a better instance of this practice 
 than a picture which I have of Rubens ; it is a repre- 
 sentation of a Moonlight. Rubens has not only diffused 
 more light over the picture than is in nature, but has 
 bestowed on it those warm glowing colours bv which 
 his works are so much distinguished. It is so unlike 
 what any other painters have given us of Moonlight, 
 that it might be easily mistaken, if he had not like- 
 wise added stars, for a fainter setting sun. — Rubens 
 thought the eye ought to be satisfied in this case, above 
 all other considerations ; he might, indeed, have made 
 it more natural, but it would have been at the expence 
 of what he thought of much greater consequence,— 
 
458 the eighth discourse. 
 
 the harmony proceeding from the contrast and variety of 
 colours. 
 
 This same picture will furnish us with another in- 
 stance, where we must depart from nature for a 
 greater advantage. The Moon in this picture does 
 not preserve so great a superiority in regard to its 
 lightness over the subject which it illumines, as it does 
 in nature ; this is likewise an intended deviation, and 
 for the same reason. If Rubens had preserved the 
 same scale of gradation of light between the Moon and 
 the objects, which is found in nature, the picture must 
 have consisted of one small spot of light only, and at 
 a little distance from the picture nothing but this spot 
 would have been seen. It may be said, indeed, that 
 this being the case, it is a subject that ought not to be 
 painted; but then, for the same reason, neither armour, 
 nor any thing shining ought ever to be painted ; for 
 though pure white is used in order to represent the 
 greatest light of shining objects, it will not in the 
 picture preserve the same superiority over flesh, as it 
 has in nature, without keeping that flesh -colour of a 
 very low tint. Rembrandt, who thought it of more, 
 consequence to paint light than the objects that are 
 seen by it, has done this in a picture of Achilles which 
 I have. The head is kept down to a very low tint, in 
 order to preserve this due gradation and distinction 
 between the armour and the face ; the consequence of 
 which is, that upon the whole, the picture is too black. 
 Surelv too much is sacrificed here to this narrow con- 
 ception of nature; allowing the contrary conduct a 
 fault, vet it must be acknowledged a less fault than 
 making a picture so dark that it cannot be seen with- 
 out a peculiar light, and then with difficulty. The 
 merit or demerit of the different conduct of Rubens 
 and Rembrandt in those instances which I have given, 
 
THE EIGHTH DTSCOURSE. 
 
 459 
 
 is not to be determined by the narrow principles of 
 nature, separated from its effect on the human mind. 
 Reason and common sense tell us, that before, and 
 above all other considerations, it is necessary that the 
 work should be seen, not only without difficulty or in- 
 convenience, but with pleasure and satisfaction ; and 
 every obstacle which stands in the way of this pleasure 
 and convenience must be removed. 
 
 The tendency of this Discourse, with the instances 
 which have been given, is not so much to place the 
 Artist above rules, as to teach him their reason ; to 
 prevent him from entertaining a narrow confined con- 
 ception of Art ; to clear his mind from a perplexed 
 variety of rules and their exceptions, by directing his 
 attention to an intimate acquaintance with the passions 
 and affections of the mind, from which all rules arise, 
 and to which they are all referable. Art effects its 
 purpose by their means ; an accurate knowledge, 
 therefore, of those passions and dispositions of the 
 mind is necessary to him who desires to affect them 
 upon sure and solid principles. 
 
 A complete essay or inquiry into the connection 
 between the rules of Art, and the eternal and immut- 
 able dispositions of our passions, would be indeed 
 going at once to the foundation of criticism ; * but I 
 am too well convinced what extensive knowledge, 
 what subtle and penetrating judgment would be re- 
 quired, to engage in such an undertaking ; it is enough 
 for me, if in the language of painters, I have produced 
 a slight sketch of a part of this vast composition, but 
 that sufficiently distinct to show the usefulness of such a 
 theory, and its practicability. 
 
 * This was inadvertently said. I did not recollect the admir- 
 able treatise On the Suhliw and Beautiful. 
 
460 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 Before I conclude, I cannot avoid making one ob- 
 servation on the pictures now before us. I have ob- 
 served, that every candidate has copied the celebrated 
 invention of Timanthes in hiding the face of Aga- 
 memnon in his mantle; indeed, such lavish enco- 
 miums have been bestowed on this thought, and that 
 too by men of the highest character in critical know- 
 ledge, — Cicero, Quintilian, Valerius, Maximus, and 
 Pliny, — and have been since re-echoed by almost 
 every modern that has written on the Arts, that your 
 adopting it can neither be wondered at, nor blamed. 
 It appears now to be so much connected with the sub- 
 ject, that the spectator would perhaps be disap- 
 pointed in not finding united in the picture what he 
 always united in his mind, and considered as indis- 
 pensably belonging to the subject. But it may be ob- 
 served, that those who praise this circumstance were 
 not painters. They use it as an illustration only of 
 their own art ; it served their purpose, and it was cer- 
 tainly not their business to enter into the objections 
 that lie against it in another Art. I fear we have but 
 very scanty means of exciting those powers over the 
 imagination which make so very considerable and re- 
 fined a part of poetry. It is a doubt with me, whether 
 we should even make the attempt. The chief, if not 
 the only occasion, which the painter has for this arti- 
 fice, is, when the subject is improper to be more fully 
 represented, either for the sake of decency, or to avoid 
 what would be disagreeable to be seen ; and this is not 
 to raise or increase the passions, which is the reason 
 that is given for this practice, but on the contrary to di- 
 minish their effect. 
 
 It is true, sketches, or such drawings as painters 
 generally make for their works, give this pleasure of 
 imagination to a high degree. From a slight, undeter- 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 461 
 
 mined drawing, where the ideas of the composition 
 and character are, as I may say, only just touched 
 upon, the imagination supplies more than the painter 
 himself, probably, could produce ; and we accordingly 
 often find that the finished work disappoints the ex- 
 pectation that was raised from the. sketch ; and this 
 power of the imagination is one of the causes of the 
 great pleasure we have in viewing a collection of draw- 
 ings by great painters. These general ideas, which 
 are expressed in sketches, correspond very well to the 
 art often used in Poetry. A great part of the beauty 
 of the celebrated description of Eve in Milton's Pa- 
 radise Lost, consists in using only general indistinct 
 expressions, every reader making out the detail ac- 
 cording to his own particular imagination, — his own 
 idea of beauty, grace, expression, dignity, or love- 
 liness : but a painter, when he represents Eve on a 
 canvass, is obliged to give a determined form, and his 
 own idea of beauty distinctly expressed. 
 
 We cannot on this occasion, nor indeed on any other, 
 recommend an undeterminate manner or vague ideas 
 of any kind, in a complete and finished picture. This 
 notion, therefore, of leaving any thing to the imagin- 
 ation, opposes a very fixed and indispensable rule in 
 our art, — that every thing shall be carefully and dis- 
 tinctly expressed, as if the painter knew, with correct- 
 ness and precision, the exact form and character of 
 whatever is introduced into the picture. This is what 
 with us is called Science, and Learning : which must 
 not be sacrificed and given up for an uncertain and 
 doubtful beauty, which, not naturally belonging to our 
 Art, will probably be sought for without success. 
 
 Mr. Falconet has observed, in a note on this passage 
 in his translation of Pliny, that the circumstance of 
 covering the face of Agamemnon was probably not in 
 
462 
 
 THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 consequence of any fine imagination of the painter, — 
 which he considers as a discovery of the critics, — but 
 merely copied from the description of the sacrifice, as 
 it is found in Euripides. 
 
 The words from which the picture is supposed to 
 be taken, are these: Agamemnon saw Iphigenia ad- 
 vance towards the fatal altar; he groaned, he turned 
 aside his head, he shed tears, and covered his face with 
 his robe. 
 
 Falconet does not at all acquiesce in the praise that 
 is bestowed on Timanthes ; not only because it is not 
 his invention, but because he thinks meanly of this 
 trick of concealing, except in instances of blood, where 
 the objects would be too horrible to be seen ; but 
 says he, " in an afflicted Father, in a King, in Aga- 
 memnon, you, who are a painter, conceal from me the 
 most interesting circumstance, and then put me off 
 with sophistry and a veil. You are (he adds) a feeble 
 Painter, without resource : you do not know even 
 those of your Art : I care not what veil it is, whether 
 closed hands, arms raised, or any other action that 
 conceals from me the countenance of the Hero. You 
 think of veiling Agamemnon ; you have unveiled your 
 own ignorance. A Painter who represents Agamem- 
 non veiled, is as ridiculous as a Poet would be, who 
 in a pathetic situation, in order to satisfy my expect- 
 ations, and rid himself of the business, should say, 
 that the sentiments of his hero are so far above what- 
 ever can be said on the occasion, that he shall say 
 nothing." 
 
 To what Falconet has said, we may add, that sup- 
 posing this method of leaving the expression of grief 
 to the imagination, to be, as it was thought to be, the 
 invention of the painter, and that it deserves all the 
 praise that has been given it, still it is a trick that 
 
THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 463 
 
 will serve but once ; whoever does it a second time, 
 will not only want novelty, but be justly suspected of 
 using artifice to evade difficulties. If difficulties over- 
 come make a great part of the merit of Art, difficulties 
 evaded can deserve but little commendation. 
 
 END OP THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
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