Jonathan Richardson

Sitterback to top

• Jonathan Richardson (1665-1745), Portrait painter. Sitter associated with 8 portraits, Artist associated with 120 portraits.

Artistback to top

• Jonathan Richardson (1665-1745), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 120 portraits, Sitter associated with 8 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Richardson drew over one hundred self-portraits: a sustained project of self-scrutiny which could only be achieved through drawing. The soft cap he wears in this image is often found in eighteenth-century portraits as the mark of a virtuoso, a refined lover of the arts and sciences. Richardson had a superb collection of 'old master' drawings and promoted drawing as being of equal importance to painting. He wrote 'a pencil [performs]… what cannot be done when one has a variety of colours to manage, especially in oil'.

Linked publicationsback to top

• Kerslake, John, Early Georgian Portraits, 1977, p. 229
• Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 36
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 521

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

• The Art of Drawing: Portraits from the Collection, 1670-1780 (19 October 2012 - 19 May 2013)

Subjects & Themesback to top

• Hats and head-attire
• In profile
• Self-portraits