Joshua Reynolds, Self-Portrait, about 1747-8
© National Portrait Gallery, London
(1723-1792)
'Dear President, whose art sublime
Gives perpetuity to time'
William Cowper
Born in Devon, Reynolds was apprenticed to Thomas Hudson in 1740, and studied in Italy from 1750-2. He soon became the most successful portrait painter of his age, a skilled self-promoter whose active social life included membership of London's elite clubs and societies. He became president of the newly-established Royal Academy in 1768, delivering an annual Discourse to the Academy's students summarising his approach to art. These emphasised the importance of history painting in the 'Great Style', which he had adapted to fit the preference of his contemporaries for portrait painting. He was knighted in 1769.