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Sir Joshua Reynolds

13 of 40 portraits of Sir Joshua Reynolds

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir Joshua Reynolds

by and published by John Keyse Sherwin, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
line engraving, 1784 (1775)
11 5/8 in. x 10 in. (295 mm x 254 mm) plate size; 18 5/8 in. x 14 1/2 in. (472 mm x 368 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D34871

Sitterback to top

  • Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Painter and first President of the Royal Academy. Sitter associated with 40 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 1425 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Painter and first President of the Royal Academy. Artist or producer associated with 1425 portraits, Sitter associated with 40 portraits.
  • John Keyse Sherwin (1751-1790), Draughtsman and engraver. Artist or producer associated with 50 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Reynolds painted many self-portraits and encouraged their wide dissemination by allowing selected engravers to copy his works free of charge. This engraving was made after a self-portrait painted in 1775 for the Grand Duke of Tuscany to mark Reynolds's election to the Academy in Florence.

Related worksback to top

Events of 1784back to top

Current affairs

Theatre proprietor and postal reformer John Palmer runs the first mail coach in England, between Bristol and London. A three day journey is now completed in 16 hours.
Commutation Act reduces punitive duties on tea to combat smuggling.

Art and science

Aeronaut James Sadler makes the first hot air balloon flight in Britain, from Oxford to Woodeaton.
Chemist Henry Cavendish's paper Experiments on Air reveals the composition of water.
Writer Samuel Johnson dies.
Joshua Reynolds succeeds Allan Ramsay as Painter to the King.

International

Thomas Jefferson's Land Ordinance passed by the United States' Continental Congress, coming into effect the following year. It allows for the sale of land in the largely unmapped west of the country.
Britain receives its first bales of cotton from the United States since before the War of American Independence.
William Pitt's India Act creates a Board of Control to oversee the affairs of the British East India Company and centralise power.

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