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Jonathan Richardson

5 of 8 portraits of Jonathan Richardson

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Jonathan Richardson

by Jonathan Richardson
black chalk heightened with white on blue paper, October 1735
12 7/8 in. x 10 1/2 in. (327 mm x 267 mm)
Transferred from Dr William Fleming Collection, 1950
Primary Collection
NPG 3779

Sitterback to top

  • Jonathan Richardson (1667-1745), Portrait painter. Sitter in 8 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 126 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Jonathan Richardson (1667-1745), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 126 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This image, depicting the artist at seventy, is one of the last known examples of Richardson's extensive series of self-portraits, mostly drawn between 1728 and 1740. Self-portraiture for Richardson was an exercise in moral scrutiny and many of his images were accompanied by verses reflecting on change and mortality. While no text accompanies this portrait, it evokes a similar mood of sober contemplation. His head is naked, lacking the wig or soft cap that were the hallmarks of polite masculinity. The tilt of his chin exposes the folds of loose skin at his throat and he stares directly at the viewer, as if challenging them to confront the effects of old age. More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).

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. 37
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 521
  • Schama, Simon, The Face of Britain: The Nation Through its Portraits, 2015-09-15, p. 374

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1735back to top

Current affairs

Second Parliament under George III. Robert Walpole maintains a substantial majority. Lord Bolingbroke gives up active opposition to Walpole and retires to France. Walpole moves into 10 Downing Street.
Welsh Methodist revival begins.

Art and science

Celebrated dandy Richard 'Beau' Nash appoints himself Master of Ceremonies at Tunbridge Wells.
William Hogarth founds the second St Martin's Lane Academy of Painting.
Lawyer and amateur meteorologist George Hadley publishes the first explanation of the trade winds


International

Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus publishes a 'system of nature', capable of classifying all living things.
Swedish chemist Georg Brandt discovers a new metallic element, which he names cobalt.
A revivalist movement in America, led by Jonathan Edwards, becomes known as the Great Awakening.
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach debuts his Ascension Oratorio in Leipzig.

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