Editing Thomas Gainsborough (section)

==Youth and training==
[[File:Thomas Gainsborough - Lady Lloyd and Her Son, Richard Savage Lloyd, of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|323px|''Lady Lloyd and Her Son, Richard Savage Lloyd, of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk'' (1745–46), [[Yale Center for British Art]]]]

Gainsborough was born in [[Sudbury, Suffolk|Sudbury]], Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife Mary, sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs.<ref name=NGA>{{cite web |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1329.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121213183901/http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tbio?person=11650 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 December 2012 |title=Thomas Gainsborough |publisher=National Gallery of Art |access-date=10 December 2011 }}</ref> One of Gainsborough's brothers, [[Humphrey Gainsborough|Humphrey]], is said to have invented the method of condensing steam in a separate vessel, which was of great service to [[James Watt]]; another brother, John, was known as ''Scheming Jack'' because of his passion for designing curiosities.<ref>Fulcher, George William, ''Life of Thomas Gainsborough'', London 1856</ref>

The artist spent his childhood at what is now [[Gainsborough's House]], on Gainsborough Street, Sudbury. He later resided there following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The dictionary of art (volume 11 Ferrara-Gainsborough)|date=1996|publisher=Grove|others=Turner, Jane, 1956-|isbn=978-1884446009|location=New York|pages=907|oclc=34409675}}</ref> The building is now a house-museum dedicated to his life and art.

As a boy he demonstrated impressive drawing and painting skills. At the age of ten he was painting heads and small landscapes, including a miniature self-portrait.<ref>Conrad, Stephen, "Thomas Gainsborough's First Self-portrait", ''The British Art Journal'', Vol. XII, No. 1, Summer 2011, pp. 52–59</ref> Gainsborough left home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver [[Hubert-François Gravelot|Hubert Gravelot]]<ref name="NGA" /> but became associated with [[William Hogarth]] and his school. He assisted [[Francis Hayman]] in decorating the supper boxes at [[Vauxhall Gardens]].<ref name="NGA" />