\paperw5100 \margr0\margl0 \plain \f1 \ATXsh255 English painter. \ATXsh4607 \par
\ATXsh255 After an initial period working in Devonshire and London from 1740 to 1749, Joshua Rey
nolds set off for Rome, where he stayed for several years from 1750 to 1752, stopping in Florence, Parma, Bologna, Venice, and Paris on his return. The painter adopted many ideas during his time in Italy which helped him to develop a personal style. This
is most evident in his brilliant portraits, which established ReynoldsÆs reputation with both the critics and the public. He painted a celebrated portrait of the courtesan Nelly OÆBrien in 1763. A sign of the great esteem in which Reynolds was held in L
ondon is provided by his appointment as president of the newly formed Royal Academy of Arts in 1768, which also gave him the opportunity to make a public exposition of his conception of art in a series of fifteen lectures that were later published. Unlik
e the well-known series of portraits by Anthony van Dyck, the subjects of ReynoldsÆs portraits were extremely varied; in addition to aristocrats, they included actors and intellectuals. An important innovation was the iconography he used for the portrait
s that frequently took their inspiration from the models of classical statuary, which had made a great impression on Reynolds during his visit to Italy. On the other hand, his palette shows a profound knowledge of the Italian masters, especially Guido Re
ni and Titian, as well as of the Dutch painter Rembrandt (\i Self-portrait\i0 , 1780). The arrival of the landscape painter and portraitist Gainsborough in London in 1774 had an influence on ReynoldsÆs style, which acquired greater immediacy and psycholo
gical insight, as in the portrait of \i Master Hare\i0 , for instance. During a profitable journey to the Netherlands and Flanders in 1781, Reynolds deepened his understanding of the works of the painters Franz Hals, Rembrandt, and Rubens, as is apparent
in his subsequent work, such as the portrait of \i Lord Heathfield\i0 , 1787. The great fame achieved by Reynolds is due to his undoubted ability to capture the essence and psychology of his subjects, at the same time as he ennobled them by placing them
in the classical poses of ancient statuary.\ATXsh4607
