Self-portrait

Sir Joshua Reynolds was the most popular British portraitist of his time. Whenever you see a portrait of an 18th century British aristocrat, there’s a good chance Reynolds painted it. He was also the first President of the Royal Academy, the British art world’s most dominant establishment.

To achieve such greatness, Reynolds studied the old masters who came before him. One of his favorites was Rembrandt. (This is also true for many other artists.) It’s clear from this self portrait that he learned his lessons well, because Reynolds followed Rembrandt in two big ways here.

The first is the fact that he painted such a theatrical self portrait. Rembrandt painted loads of self portraits, and many are quite famous today. He loved to dress up in elaborate costumes and paint himself as characters other than himself. That’s exactly what Reynolds is doing here.

Secondly, Reynolds paid homage to one of Rembrandt’s most famous works, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (also called Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer). It’s far from an exact copy, even though copying old masters has always been an important way to learn. The composition is flipped, the angles are slightly different, and Reynolds has substantially updated his outfit, but the connection is still clear.

- Alexandra Kiely

P.S. These 4 cutest Joshua Reynolds’ children will make you miss childhood!