The Right Honourable Countess Spencer

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Joshua Reynolds was the dominant artistic personality during the age of George III. He was born in Plympton, Devon. From 1750 to 1752 he studied the work of the Old Masters in Rome. Reynolds returned via Florence and Paris, and settled in London in 1753. In 1759 he painted a portrait of the future king, George, Prince of Wales (Royal Collection). After George’s accession the following year, Reynolds was dismayed to learn that Allan Ramsay had been made Principal Painter to the King. This marked the beginning of increasing hostility between Reynolds and the King. Nonetheless, by 1760 Reynolds had established himself as the leading portraitist. He became President of the Royal Academy in 1768 and was knighted the following year.
Francesco Bartolozzi was born in Italy. He became a pupil of the German painter and printmaker Joseph Wagner, then based in Venice. In 1764, he was invited to England by Frederick Augusta Barnard, King George III's Librarian. Although best known for copying Old Master drawings in the stipple technique (such as his reproductions of Guercino’s drawings in the Royal Collection), Bartolozzi also engraved plates after contemporary artists (notably Giovanni Battista Cipriani and Angelica Kauffmann). He set up a studio in London, which produced large numbers of ‘furniture prints’ (generally set within a roundel or oval and intended for framing). In 1802 he left England to become Director of the Lisbon Academy in Portugal.

People

Lavinia (née Bingham), Countess Spencer Spencer (1762 - 1831)

Places

Subjects

female portrait, 18th century costume, hat, coat of arms, Countess

Materials & Techniques

engraving, colour stipple engraving

Artist

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 - 1792)
Francesco Bartolozzi (1727 - 1815)

Title

The Right Honourable Countess Spencer

Date

published 21 February 1787

Medium

Colour stipple engraving

Dimensions

height: 30.50 cm, width: 21.00 cm

Acquisition

Origin uncertain

GAC number

14859