DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61291#0060
44
GAINSBOROUGH
force is revealed, and the keynote of the whole
composition is simplicity. The colouring is
subdued and harmonious, the chiaroscuro is
peculiarly felicitous, and there is absolutely no
trace of the mannerism which later provoked
so much criticism.
In this most happy likeness Gainsborough
unconsciously achieved the very result he aimed
at in vain in the attempted ideal portrait of
Shakespeare alluded to in the letter to Garrick
quoted above. The noble old man, whose
earnest character is clearly reflected in his
handsome features, looks up from the Bible he
has been reading with an expression of rapt
devotion, and the light from the window falls
full upon his face, which is thus lit up by an
“ immediate ray from above ” such as the artist
wished to secure for the great dramatist. It
may possibly have been when he was trying to
meet Garrick’s wishes that Gainsborough painted
this beautiful portrait; but nothing is reallyknown
about it, and who Orpin was, independently of
his office, is equally doubtful. He is not, how-
ever, likely to have been in a position to pay for
having his likeness painted, and the probability
is that he attracted the notice of Gainsborough
as an admirable subject, and was persuaded to
GAINSBOROUGH
force is revealed, and the keynote of the whole
composition is simplicity. The colouring is
subdued and harmonious, the chiaroscuro is
peculiarly felicitous, and there is absolutely no
trace of the mannerism which later provoked
so much criticism.
In this most happy likeness Gainsborough
unconsciously achieved the very result he aimed
at in vain in the attempted ideal portrait of
Shakespeare alluded to in the letter to Garrick
quoted above. The noble old man, whose
earnest character is clearly reflected in his
handsome features, looks up from the Bible he
has been reading with an expression of rapt
devotion, and the light from the window falls
full upon his face, which is thus lit up by an
“ immediate ray from above ” such as the artist
wished to secure for the great dramatist. It
may possibly have been when he was trying to
meet Garrick’s wishes that Gainsborough painted
this beautiful portrait; but nothing is reallyknown
about it, and who Orpin was, independently of
his office, is equally doubtful. He is not, how-
ever, likely to have been in a position to pay for
having his likeness painted, and the probability
is that he attracted the notice of Gainsborough
as an admirable subject, and was persuaded to