Testimonies to the Genius and Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds. by the Author of Imperfect Hints Towards a New Edition of Shakspeare

Testimonies To The Genius And Memory Of Sir Joshua Reynolds. By The Author Of Imperfect Hints Towards A New Edition Of Shakspeare. This biographical miscellany by Samuel Felton gathers tributes and critical reflections on Sir Joshua Reynolds, the eminent English portrait-painter and founder of the Royal Academy. The volume assembles testimonials from artists, writers, physicians, and patrons—Walpole, Johnson, Burke, Warton, Garrick, and other contemporaries—and surveys Reynolds’s life from his Devon childhood and early awakening through his Italian travels, return to England, and rise as a fashionable portraitist across Europe. It discusses his artistic philosophy, notably his belief that the route to excellence in painting is to cultivate virtue and character, and it quotes his Discourses to the Academy on art, history painting, and portraiture. The Memoir also chronicles Reynolds’s major works, his role in shaping national taste, his Nativity and other grand designs, and his influence on British art, including the founding of the Royal Academy. The book concludes with his death in 1792, his funeral at St. Paul’s, and a survey of the tributes and memorials paid to him.