REYNOLDS. 



REYNOLDS, Sir Joshtia, Knt., in Biography, was 

 the fon of the Rev. Samuel Reynolds, rector of Plympton, 

 near Plymouth, in Devon fhire, and was born there, on 

 July 1 6, 1723 ; the tenth of eleven children, five of whom 

 died in their infancy. He was, for fome time, inftru&ed 

 in the daffies by his father, and was intended for the practice 

 of phyfic j but he began, at a very early age, to difplay an 

 inclination for the art in which he fubfequently made fo dif- 

 tinguilhed a figure. At eight years of age he made him- 

 felf fo far mailer of perfpeftive, as to draw his father's 

 bookcafe according to rule, and, encouraged by his affec- 

 tionate parent, amufed himfelf by copying prints that he 

 found in books, and particularly thofe in Jacob Kat's em- 

 blems. From thefe early labours the tranfition was eafy to 

 the attempt at drawing likeneffes of his friends, and in 

 thefe he obtained tolerable fuccefs. Richardfon's Treatife 

 on Painting was then put into his hands, and, according to 

 his own report, he was, by that work, itimulated to the 

 greateft degree of enthufiafm for the art ot painting, and 

 led to regard its profefibrs, particularly Raphael, as among 

 the greateft and mo ft illultriousof men, either in ancient or 

 modern time. After he had fpent fome time praftifing in 



all his hours, as many artifts do while they are at Rome, in 

 meafuring ftatues, and copying pictures, foon begins to 

 think for himfelf, and endeavours to do fomething like what 

 he fees. I conlider general copying as a delufive kind of 

 induftrv ; the (Indent fatisfies himfelf with the appearance 

 of doing fomething ; he falls into the danger of imitating 

 without (electing, and of labouring without any determinate 

 objett : as it requires no effort of the mind, he deeps over 

 his work ; and thofe powers of invention and difpofition, 

 which ought particularly to be called out and put in aftion, 

 lie toroid, and lofe their energy for want of exercife. How 

 incapable of producing any thing of their own, thofe are, 

 who have fpent molt of their time in copying, is an obferva- 

 tion well known to all who are converfant in our art." 

 That he reflected deeply on the great works of the ancient 

 and modern mailers is evident, both from his pictures and 

 writings ; though the tafte with which lie fubfequently ap- 

 plied the knowledge he had acquired, proves the originality 

 of his mind, and the extent of his genius. 



Mr. Reynolds returned through Paris to England in 

 October 1752, and after a (hort time fpent at his native 

 place, to recruit his health, which had fomewhat fuifered 



the neighbouring country, his parents were induced, by the by the journey, he fixed his fettled relidence in the metro- 

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advice of a Mr. Cranch, to fend him to London, as the place 

 belt calculated to improve talents fuch as he had lo decidedly 

 exhibited ; and accordingly, in October 1 741, he firlt vifited 

 the capital, and was immediately placed with Mr. Hudfon, 

 the molt renowned portrait painter of that time, in order to 

 acquire the firft rudiments of this art. 



Whatever was the caufe, whether, as it is faid, Hudfon 

 became jealous of the ability of his pupil, or, as is equally 

 probable, the pupil became difgufted with the want of tafte 

 exhibited by his mailer, in little more than two years they 

 difagreed, and young Reynolds returned to his father, and 

 again employed himlelf in painting his friends. . Many of 

 thefe early productions of his pencil are ftill to be feen in 

 the town and neighbourhood of Plymouth, and fome of 

 them poffefs very confiderable merit, and indicate his future 

 prowefs. One of them, particularly, of a boy reading in 

 reflected light, 30 years afterwards, excited furprize in his 

 own mind, and an expreflion of regret that, in fo many years, 

 he Ihould have made lo little progrefs in his profeffion. He 

 is faid to have lamented having paffed this period of his life 

 in the way he had done ; molt probably, however, that re- 

 gret alludes to his ablence from London, where he would 

 mod undoubtedly have feen more of the art, and learnt 

 more of its practice, than elfewhere. But perhaps it was a 

 fortunate occurrence that he was removed to a ftation whtre 

 he had to rely upon his own emotions, unbiaded by the 

 grofs and barbarous tafte which then prevailed ; fiice, guided 

 by thofe emotions, he attempted to follow the dictates of 

 nature, untrammelled by the pedantry of amateurs, and 

 the low ignorance of the greater part of the profefibrs of 

 the day. 



Finding his practice increafing, he took a houfe at Ply- 

 mouth Dock, and there became known to the family of 

 Mount Edgecumbe, by whom he was warmly patronized, 

 and recommended to captain (afterwards lord) Keppel, who 

 carried him to Italy in 1749 S an ^ it would appear, from a 

 letter of his to lord Mount Edgecumbe, written when he 

 was in Rome, that that noble lord defrayed the expence of 

 his refidence there. The courfe of his ftudies during the 

 three years that he fpent there, is not precifely known. 

 He made fome few copies of figures and heads from the 

 works of Raphael, but that does not appear to have been a 

 favourite mode of ftudy with him, for in one of his leftures 

 he has faid, " the man of true genius, inftead of fpending 



pblis ; taking a houfe in St. Martin's-lane. He there 

 painted, as his firft eflay, a head, from an Italian youth he 

 had brought over with him, (Giufeppe Marchi). He 

 drefied it in a rich turban, and its execution excited fo 

 much attention, that his old mailer, Hudfon, was induced to 

 go to fee it, and carefully watched its progrefs : when, 

 upon feeing at length no trace of his own manner left, and 

 unable, or unwilling, to find any other merit in it, he ex- 

 claimed, " why Reynolds, you don't paint fo well as you did 

 when you left England !" Notwithftanding this augural 

 declaration, the pupil became the fuperior favourite with 

 the public ; and Hudfon retiring, left him without a com- 

 petitor. 



In 1753, or 4, he took a large houfe in Newport-ftreet, 

 where he refided for eight or nine years, and there he 

 painted a whole length portrait of his friend commodore 

 Keppel walking on the fea-fhore, which drew upon him 

 univerfal admiration, and fixed him completely in the public 

 efteem. At this time his price was ten guineas for a head ; 

 in 1755 he raifed it to twelve; and in 1758 to twenty 

 guineas ; and he afterwards, by degrees, advanced it to 

 fifty ; at which it remained till he declined practice ; the 

 price of a half length, during the latter period, being IOO, 

 and for a whole length zoo guineas. 



To fay that he was univerfally regarded as being at the 

 head of the proteffion of portrait painting at the time ad- 

 verted to, cannot indeed be confidered as any great praife, 

 fuch was its degraded condition ; though Hudfon had cer- 

 tainly advanced above his immediate predecefibrs. Reynolds 

 however, di fi-rved much more, for he united to a dignified 

 characterise refembfence of the head, an endlefs variety of 

 fpinted and graceful attitudes, pifturefque back-grounds, 

 novel and ftriking effefts of light and lhade, with a volup- 

 tuous richnefs and harmony of colour, which certainly had 

 never before been feen united to fo many other qualities in 

 that branch of the art. It mult not, however, be under- 

 llood, that his performances at that time polfefied thofe 

 excellencies to the degree in which we find them in his latter 

 works ; for he was one of the few, whole efforts ended 

 but with his life ; who has been heard to fay, that he never 

 began a picture without a determination to make it his bed ; 

 and whole unceafing progrefs almoft jullified the maxim 

 he was fo fond of repeating continually, " that nothing is 

 denied to well directed induftry." Befides his uncommon 

 8 afiiduity, 



