Sir Joshua Reynolds was an English painter who specialised in portraits. Art critic John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting, which depended on idealisation of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts and was knighted by George III in 1769.
The National is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfair, and first opened to the public in 1859.
John Constable was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly in London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the fine arts through exhibitions, education and debate.
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenotaphs honour individuals, many noted cenotaphs are also dedicated to the memories of groups of individuals, such as the lost soldiers of a country or of an empire.
John Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont KG (1361–1396) was an English military commander and Admiral who served in the Hundred Years' War against the partisans of Antipope Clement VII.
James Paine (1717–1789) was an English architect. He worked on number of country houses such as Chatsworth House, Thorndon Hall and Kedleston Hall.
Charles Robert Leslie was an English genre painter.
Philip Metcalfe,, , was an English Tory politician, a malt distiller and a philanthropist.
Sir George Howland Beaumont, 7th Baronet was a British art patron and amateur painter. He played a crucial part in the creation of London's National Gallery by making the first bequest of paintings to that institution.
Thringstone is a village in the North West Leicestershire district, in Leicestershire, England. About 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Coalville, it lies in the English National Forest.
Gopsall is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Twycross, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of Appleby Magna, Shackerstone, Twycross and Snarestone. In 1931 the parish had a population of 13. Gopsall was formerly an extra-parochial tract, from 1858 Gopsall was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Twycross.
Samuel William Reynolds was a mezzotint engraver, landscape painter and landscape gardener. Reynolds was a popular engraver in both Britain and France and there are over 400 examples of his work in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Coleorton Hall is a 19th-century country mansion, formerly the seat of the Beaumont baronets of Stoughton Grange. Situated at Coleorton, Leicestershire, it is a Grade II* listed building now converted into residential apartments.
Louisa Manners Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart was an English peeress. Her father held considerable estates in England largely due to the two marriages of Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, earlier Tollemache, née Elizabeth Murray. Her elder brothers left no surviving issue on their deaths which enabled her to enjoy and help to pass on to her descendants the key family settlement properties: Helmingham Hall and Ham House in England.
Theophila "Offy" Gwatkin was a British painter. She is described as an amateur artist and is best known for pictures painted of her by her uncle Sir Joshua Reynolds. She also compiled, added a preface, footnote glosses and a dictionary of dialect terms to her mother's, Mary Reynolds, A Devonshire Dialogue.
Arundel Mill and Castle is an 1837 landscape painting by the English artist John Constable. Produced the year of his death, it depicts a scene on the River Arun in Sussex. In the foreground is a mill, while Arundel Castle is shown in the distance. Today it is in the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, described as Constable's last painting. Constable had viewed the scene while visiting George Constable, a friend and brewer. He was working on the painting in 1836, but shelved it to complete Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds in time for that year's Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. He resumed work on it the following year but died before its completion. His friend Charles Robert Leslie felt it was far enough advanced to exhibit posthumously at that year's Royal Academy Exhibition. Leslie believed that the scene had reminded Constable of the Stour Valley in his native Suffolk.
Malvern Hall is an 1821 landscape painting by the British artist John Constable. It depicts a view of Malvern Hall in Warwickshire. Constable, known in particular for his paintings of his native Suffolk, first visited Malvern Hall in 1809 and returned again in 1820. He was invited by Magdelane, the widow of Earl of Dysart. As the house had been rebuilt and restored since his previous visit, he was encouraged by her to paint it again.
Parham Mill is an 1826 landscape painting by the English artist John Constable. It portrays a view of the Parham watermill in Gillingham, Dorset. In 1823 Constable was staying with his friend John Fisher, nephew of the Bishop of Salisbury, who suggested he should paint it. Constable was attracted to the mill which he called "wonderfull old & romantic".
Harwich Lighthouse is an 1820 landscape painting by the British painter John Constable. It depicts a scene on the coast of Essex in England featuring Harwich Low Lighthouse. The lighthouse was maintained by Constable's patron General Rebow whose estate at Wivenhoe Park he also painted.
