38 
REYNOLDS. 
In October 1791, however, his spirits began to fail him, and 
he became dejected, fiom an apprehension that an inflamed 
tumour, which took place over the eye that had perished, 
might occasion the destruction of the other also. Mean¬ 
while he laboured under a more dangerous disease, which 
deprived him both of his spirits and his appetite. During 
this period of great affliction to all his friends, his malady 
was by many supposed to be imaginary, and it was errone¬ 
ously conceived, that by exertion he might shake it off; for 
he was wholly unable to explain to the physicians the nature 
or seat of his disorder. It was only about a fortnight before 
his death that it was found to be in the liver; the inordinate 
growth of which,, as it afterwards appeared, had incom¬ 
moded all the functions of life.. Of this disease, which he 
bore with great fortitude and patience, he died, after a con¬ 
finement of three months, at his house in Leicester-square, 
on Thursday evening, February 23, 1792, at the age of 
69. 
In stature, Sir Joshua Reynolds was rather under the mid¬ 
dle size, of a florid complexion, roundish, blunt features, 
and a lively pleasing aspect; not corpulent, though some¬ 
what inclined to it; and extremely active. With manners 
uncommonly polished and agreeable, he possessed a con¬ 
stant flow of spirits, which rendered him at all times a most 
desirable companion : always ready to be amused, and to 
contribute to the amusement of others, and anxious to receive 
information on every subject that presented itself: and though 
he had been deaf almost from the time of his return from 
Italy ; yet, by the aid of an ear-trumpet, he was enabled to 
partake of the conversation of his friends with great facility 
and convenience. On the 3d of March his remains were 
interred in the crypt of St. Paul’s, near the tomb of Sir 
Christopher Wren, with every honour that could be shewn 
to worth and genius by an enlightened nation; a great num¬ 
ber of the most distinguished persons attending the funeral 
ceremony, and his pall being supported by three dukes, two 
marquisses, and five other noblemen. 
In many respects,both as a man and a painter, Sir Joshua 
Reynolds cannot be too much studied, praised, and imitated 
by every one who wishes to attain the like eminence. His 
incessant industry was never wearied into despondency by 
miscarriage, nor elated into neglect by success. Either in 
his painting-room, or wherever else he passed his time, his 
mind was devoted to the charms of his profession. All 
nature, and all art, was his academy, and his reflection was 
ever on the wing, comprehensive, vigorous, discriminating, 
and retentive. With taste to perceive all the varieties of the 
picturesque, judgment to select, and skill to combine what 
would serve his purpose, few have ever been empowered by 
nature to do more from the fund of his own genius: and 
none ever endeavoured more to take advantage of the labours 
of others. He made a splendid and useful collection, in 
which no expence was spared. His house was filled, to the 
remotest corners, with casts from the antique statues, pic¬ 
tures, drawings, and prints, by various masters of all the 
different schools. Those he looked upon as his library, at 
once-objects of amusement, of study, and competition. After 
his death they were sold by auction, with his unclaimed and 
unfinished works, and, together, produced the sum of 
16,947/. Is. 6c/. The substance of his whole property, 
accumulated entirely by his pencil, and left behind after a 
life in which he freely parted with his wealth, amounted to 
about 80,000/. 
It remains to speak of his style as an artist, which is pre¬ 
cisely that, denominated in his lectures the ornamental style; 
but which, beautiful and seducing as it undoubtedly is, can¬ 
not be recommended in so unreserved a degree as his industry 
both in study and practice: that which he characteristically 
terms his own uncertainty, both in design and in execution, 
operates too.frequently and too powerfully against its entire 
adoption. In the higher attainments of the art, colouring 
and chiaro-scuro were undoubtedly elements which he 
favoured, and in which he moved uncontrolled. Drawing, 
as he himself candidly confessed, was the part of the art in 
which he was most defective; and from a desire perhaps to 
hide this defect, with an over-solicitude to produce a super¬ 
abundant richness of effect, he was sometimes tempted to 
fritter his lights, and break up his composition, particularly 
if it happened to be large, into too many parts: yet, in 
general, his taste in lines and forms was at the same time 
grand and graceful; and the taste and skill with which he 
drew and set together the features of the human face, has 
never been surpassed by any artist. We would be under¬ 
stood to speak of his finest productions; of the ordinary 
class among them, we must allow, that the marking savours 
of manner, and the substance is not- always characteristic of 
flesh. 
In execution, though he wanted the firmness and breadth 
which appertain to the highest style of art, yet the spirit 
and sweetness of his touch were admirable, and would have 
been more remarkable, had he been more a master of drawing: 
but not being able readily to determine his forms, he was 
obliged to go over and over the same part, till some of the 
vivacity of his handling was frequently lost; his labour, 
however, was never wholly so, for he added to the force and 
harmony of his pictures by these repetitions; and frequently 
attained graces by them which would otherwise perhaps have- 
remained unknown. 
The numberless instances in which he is known to have- 
borrowed thoughts, both in actions of figures, and effect- 
of colour, seem to impeach his power of invention. But 
surely it could not proceed from want of a sufficient portion 
of that high and necessary quality, that he, who-produced 
so many novel combinations, adopted that short-hand path 
to composition. We see it-exemplified in a superior degree 
in most of his principal productions ; and particularly in 
his whole-length and half-length portraits; the arrangements- 
of which are no less beautiful and interesiing than new and 
entirely his own. These are composed in a taste far surpass¬ 
ing all that had ever been done by his predecessors; uniting 
tire grandeur, simplicity and fulness of Titian, and the grace 
and nature of Vandyke, with the artful and attractive eri'ects 
of Rembrandt. 
Most probably he adopted this line of conduct from 
necessity; driven to it by the immense source of employ¬ 
ment which his talents for portraiture showered upon him. 
He had scarcely time to invent new actions or effects in all 
cases, or to bestow that study upon them which would have 
been requisite, and therefore he satisfied himself by endea¬ 
vouring to infuse into those he borrowed more elegance, 
more feeling, or more sentiment. How effectually he did 
this, needs not here be mentioned. “ One quality he had, 
which no other painter that ever breathed shares with him in 
an equal degree, fascination. The effect of his best pictures 
acts like a charm, and arrests the tasteful beholder with irre¬ 
sistible pow'er. On the works of others we look with appro¬ 
bation, and sometimes with feelings of admiration and 
delight, or even with a sensation of awebut in those of 
Reynolds there is generally an indescribable unity and ame¬ 
nity, which act- upon us with a most fascinating power, and 
rivet the attention with superior gratification. No real con¬ 
noisseur can deny the existence of this quality in his pictures,, 
but wherein it specifically dwells, it is not easy to discover 
or define. They are not laboured to perfect imitation, 
indeed they stop very far short of that; yet they present a 
full image, with a degree of life and animation, that has 
rarely been displayed upon canvass. It is a dangerous doc¬ 
trine to advance, and may be abused; but, perhaps, this 
power may be in great measure owing to his having painted 
less upon system, than from feeling; and the latter govern¬ 
ing the exercise of his pencil, not to the neglect of, but in a 
superior degree to the influence of the former, necessarily 
imbued his works with a glow of nature; which, it will be 
allowed, attracts beyond the power of art. Whencesoever 
this fascination, of which we speak, proceeds, it must be 
acknowledged, that no painter ever possessed it like Rey¬ 
nolds.” 
His historical works are but few. Those, however, exhi¬ 
bit a power, of which it is fair to say, that if it had been 
early cultivated, and kept in employment, he would most 
probably 
