(1665 - 1745)
Jonathan Richardson senior was a portrait painter and a writer on art and literary topics. Born in London, Richardson was a pupil of John Riley, whose heir he eventually became. He helped to found the first Academy in England (the precursor of the Royal Academy) in 1711 and he and Charles Jervas were the busiest native-born portrait painters in rivalry with Kneller (from Germany) and Michael Dahl (from Sweden). Richardson's writings - especially ‘The Theory of Painting’, 1715, and, in collaboration with his son, the account of works of art the grand tourist should see in Italy, 1722 - were immensely influential and inspired Reynolds to become a painter. Richardson retired from painting in 1740 and died in London in May 1745.
