FDA-P.121-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-P.121-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Dr John Reynolds
Description
Three-quarter length painted portrait of a seated old man in front of a bookcase
Comments
John Reynolds was the son of John Reynolds, Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. Unlike his two brothers Joshua and Samuel (the father of the painter) he was educated at Eton and at King's College, where he was a Fellow from 1693 to 1696. In 1713 he became Master of the Exeter Grammar School and held this post until his election as a Fellow of Eton in 1734. One of his first tasks as a Fellow had been to systematize the newly built and enlarged library over the cloisters. In 1751 he gave his large and very interesting collection of books to the College Library. He was also a benefactor of King's College, Cambridge and the Bodleian Library. Reynolds published several books, the best known being an edition of the Roman geographical writer Pomponius Mela (1711). He died at Eton.
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (1723-1792)
Founder of the Royal Academy, a thinking artist whose Academy Lectures became the basis of aesthetic judgement in English art for the next hundred years. Of enormous influence as a portrait painter, he developed a grand style based on the Antique and Italian art, and a more intimate style which is indebted to the composition and lighting of Dutch painters. His technique was experimental for increased dramatic effect causing some of his pictures to darken and disappear within his lifetime. He painted eleven Leaving Portraits during the headmasterships of Barnard, Foster and Davis. He was earning £6,000 a year from portraiture.
Dr Reynolds was a Canon of St Peter's, Exeter, and Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge, as well as of Eton College (1754-58).
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (1723-1792)
Founder of the Royal Academy, a thinking artist whose Academy Lectures became the basis of aesthetic judgement in English art for the next hundred years. Of enormous influence as a portrait painter, he developed a grand style based on the Antique and Italian art, and a more intimate style which is indebted to the composition and lighting of Dutch painters. His technique was experimental for increased dramatic effect causing some of his pictures to darken and disappear within his lifetime. He painted eleven Leaving Portraits during the headmasterships of Barnard, Foster and Davis. He was earning £6,000 a year from portraiture.
Dr Reynolds was a Canon of St Peter's, Exeter, and Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge, as well as of Eton College (1754-58).
Description
Content (person)
Reynolds, John, 1671 - 1757 (Sitter)
Content (note)
Three-quarter-length, in clerical dress, seated in a library
Dimensions
height (sight size): 1250mm
width (sight size): 1000mm
width (sight size): 1000mm
Inscription
Indistinctly signed on the document
Materials & techniques note
Oil on canvas
Physical description
Carlo Maratta frame
Production
Person
Reynolds, Joshua (Sir), 1723 - 1792 (Artist)
Date
1756
Note
History and association
Associated object
PA-B.30:16-2014 (associated object)
Object history note
Exhibition history: Manchester Art Treasures, 1857 (catalogue number 54); ' Leaving Portraits from Eton College', Dulwich Picture Gallery, 1991 (catalogue number 3)
Usage
Exhibition
References
• Cust, L., Eton College Portraits, 1910 (p. 68)
• Penny, Nicholas, Reynolds, London:Royal Academy, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1986, p18
• Waterhouse, E.K., Reynolds, 1941
• Penny, Nicholas, Reynolds, London:Royal Academy, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1986, p18
• Waterhouse, E.K., Reynolds, 1941
