DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69603#0202
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, [england.
In 1749, he accompanied captain, afterwards Lord
Keppel, by whom he was warmly patronized, in a voyage
to the Mediterranean; and, after spending two months in
Port Mahon, sailed to Leghorn, from whence he pro-
ceeded to Rome. Of the course of his studies, while he
remained there, little can now be known. In his notes on
Du-Fresnoy, he gives an account of an ingenious method
taken by him, when at Venice, to discover the principles
of chiaro-scuro, adopted by the painters of that school;
and in another part confesses, that he was much disap-
pointed at the first sight of the works of Raphael in the
Vatican, and greatly mortified to find that he had not only
conceived wrong notions of that great man, but was even
incapable of appreciating his real excellence. a Notwith-
standing my disappointment,” he says, “ I proceeded to
copy some of those excellent works. I viewed them again
and again. I even affected to feel their merit, and to ad-
mire them more than I really did. In a short time a new
taste and new perceptions began to dawn upon me, and I
was convinced that I had originally formed a false opinion
of the perfection of art; and since that time, having fre-
quently revolved the subject in my mind, I am of opinion,
that a relish for the higher excellencies of the art, is an
acquired taste, which no man ever possessed without long
cultivation, great labour and attention.”
On his arrival in London, in 1752, he soon attracted
the public notice; and not long afterwards, the whole
length portrait he painted of his friend and patron,
Admiral Keppel, exhibited such powers, that he was not
only acknowledged to be at the head of his profession,
but to be the greatest painter that England had ever seen
since Vandyck. Mr. Reynolds soon saw how much ani-
In 1749, he accompanied captain, afterwards Lord
Keppel, by whom he was warmly patronized, in a voyage
to the Mediterranean; and, after spending two months in
Port Mahon, sailed to Leghorn, from whence he pro-
ceeded to Rome. Of the course of his studies, while he
remained there, little can now be known. In his notes on
Du-Fresnoy, he gives an account of an ingenious method
taken by him, when at Venice, to discover the principles
of chiaro-scuro, adopted by the painters of that school;
and in another part confesses, that he was much disap-
pointed at the first sight of the works of Raphael in the
Vatican, and greatly mortified to find that he had not only
conceived wrong notions of that great man, but was even
incapable of appreciating his real excellence. a Notwith-
standing my disappointment,” he says, “ I proceeded to
copy some of those excellent works. I viewed them again
and again. I even affected to feel their merit, and to ad-
mire them more than I really did. In a short time a new
taste and new perceptions began to dawn upon me, and I
was convinced that I had originally formed a false opinion
of the perfection of art; and since that time, having fre-
quently revolved the subject in my mind, I am of opinion,
that a relish for the higher excellencies of the art, is an
acquired taste, which no man ever possessed without long
cultivation, great labour and attention.”
On his arrival in London, in 1752, he soon attracted
the public notice; and not long afterwards, the whole
length portrait he painted of his friend and patron,
Admiral Keppel, exhibited such powers, that he was not
only acknowledged to be at the head of his profession,
but to be the greatest painter that England had ever seen
since Vandyck. Mr. Reynolds soon saw how much ani-