ACCOUNT 
is now at St. Peterfburg, his exe- 
cutors received from her Imperial 
Majeity fifteen hundred guineas.” 
Though notning remarkable oc- 
curred between 1770 and 1780, 
the productions of his pencil will 
fufficiently acquit him from. the 
charge of indolence’ or inactivity 
during that period. 
The years between 1769 and 
1790, inclufive, he exhibited at the 
Royal Academy two hundred and 
forty-four pictures ; at the exhibi- 
tions previous to the inftitution of 
the academy, between 1760 and 
1768, twenty-five: total269. In 
the whole of this period, the year 
-1767 was the only one in which he 
exhibited nothing. 
The fingle portraits of this inde- 
fatigable arti{t are innumerable; 
and in the higher ftyle of hiftory- 
eas and fancy pieces, Mr. Ma- 
one has given a lift of nearly 100; 
with which, he truly obferves, not 
only various cabinets at home have 
been enriched, but the fame of the 
Englith fchool extended to foreign 
countries. : 
In July 1781, in order to view 
the moft celebrated productions of 
the Flemifh and Dutch fchools, in 
eompany with his friend Mr. Met- 
¢alfe, he made a tour to the Nether- 
lands and Holland. 
In 1783, Mr. Mafon having fi- 
nifhed his elegant tranflation otf Du 
Yrefnoy’s Art of Painting, our au- 
thor enriched that work with a ve- 
ry ample and ingenious commen- 
tary. fn 1784, on the death of 
Mr. Ramfay, in the following year, 
our author was fworn principal 
painter in ordinary to his Majefty; 
which office he pofleiied to his 
death. 
Mr. Malone has inferted an edit- 
* Vor. XXXIX, 
OF BOOKS. © 497. 
ed fragment of an intended dif- 
courfe, in which his friend defigned. 
to comprife a hiftory of his mind ; 
which, indeed, all his printed dif- 
courfes feem to have done fo com- 
pletely, as far as his art is concern-) 
ed, that nothing is left to his bio- 
grapher’s ingenuity and penetration 
on the fubject. The ingenuous 
manner in which Sir Jofhua con- 
feffes, in this fragment, his incon- 
ftancy and frequent failures in co+ 
louring, is charaéteriftic of the 
franknefs and probity of his nature. 
For a very long period, Sir Jo- 
fhua Reynolds enjoyed an uninter- 
rupted ftate of good health, to 
which his cuftom of painting, ftand- 
ing (a practice which, we believe, 
he firft introduced) may be fup- 
-pofed in fome degree to have con- 
tributed; at leaft by this means he 
efcaped thofe diforders which are 
incident to a fedentary life. He 
was indeed, in the year 1782, dif- 
trefled for a flhiort time by a flight 
paralytic affe€tion ; which, how- 
ever, made fo little impreffion on 
him, that in a few weeks he was 
perfectly reftored, and never after- 
wards itffered any inconvenience 
from that malady. But in July 
1789, when he had very nearly fi- 
nifhed the portrait of Lady Beau- 
champ (now Marchionefs of Hert- 
ford’) the laft female portrait he 
ever painted, he for the firft time 
perceived his fight fo much affect- 
ed, that he found it difficult to pro- 
ceed; and in a few months afters 
wards, in ipite of the aid of the 
moft {kilful oculifts, he was entirely 
deprived of the fight of his left eye. 
After fome ftruggles, left his re- 
maining eye fhould be alfo affected, 
he determined to paint no more; 
.which to him was a very ferious 
hi misfortune, 
