Editing Royal Academy of Arts (section)

==Library, archive, and collections==
The first president of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, gave his noted self-portrait, beginning the Royal Academy collection. This was followed by gifts from other founding members, such as Gainsborough and [[Benjamin West]]. Subsequently, each elected Member was required to donate an artwork (known as a "Diploma Work") typical of his or her artistic output, and this practice continues today. Additional donations and purchases have resulted in a collection of approximately a thousand paintings and a thousand sculptures, which show the development of a British School of art. The Academy's collection of works on paper includes significant holdings of drawings and sketchbooks by artists working in Britain from the mid-18th century onwards, including [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], [[Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton|Lord Leighton]] and [[Laura Knight|Dame Laura Knight]].<ref>The Magic of a Line: Drawings by Dame Laura Knight, R.A., Library Print Room, Royal Academy of Arts, 2008</ref>

The photographic collection consists of photographs of Academicians, landscapes, architecture and works of art. Holdings include early portraits by [[William Frederick Lake Price|William Lake Price]] dating from the 1850s, portraits by [[David Wilkie Wynfield]] and [[Eadweard Muybridge]]'s ''Animal Locomotion'' (1872–85).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/animal-locomotion-an-electro-photographic-investigation-of-consecutive|title=Animal Locomotion. An Electro-Photographic Investigation Of Consecutive Phases Of Animal Movements. 1872–1885.|first=Eadweard|last=Muybridge|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|access-date=25 July 2020|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725205307/https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/animal-locomotion-an-electro-photographic-investigation-of-consecutive|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Wall and ceiling paintings===
Among the paintings decorating the walls and ceilings of the building are those of Benjamin West and Angelica Kauffman, in the entrance hall (Hutchison 1968, p.&nbsp;153), moved from the previous building at Somerset House. In the centre is West's roundel ''The Graces Unveiling Nature'', {{Circa|1779}},<ref name="graces">{{cite web|url=http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXSR_=VTqWz9O8C_N&_IXSP_=151&_MREF_=8267&_IXSS_=archives%3Dtrue%26works%3Dtrue%26_IXACTION_%3Dquery%26_IXTRAIL_%3DSearch%2BResults%26books%3Dtrue%26_IXMAXHITS_%3D18%26%252asform%3D%252fsearch_form%252fallform%26_IX%252ex%3D11%26_IXresults_%3Dy%26_IXSESSION_%3DytpbIBebNLj%26_IX%252ey%3D10%26all_fields%3DBENJAMIN%2BWEST&_IXACTION_=display&_IXSPFX_=templates%2Ffull%2F&_IXTRAIL_=Search+Results|title=RA Collections: Benjamin West – The Graces unveiling Nature|publisher=Racollection.org.uk|access-date=21 June 2012|archive-date=16 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916211349/http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXSR_=VTqWz9O8C_N&_IXSP_=151&_MREF_=8267&_IXSS_=archives%3Dtrue&works=true&_IXACTION_=query&_IXTRAIL_=Search+Results&books=true&_IXMAXHITS_=18&%2Asform=%2Fsearch_form%2Fallform&_IX.x=11&_IXresults_=y&_IXSESSION_=ytpbIBebNLj&_IX.y=10&all_fields=BENJAMIN+WEST&_IXACTION_=display&_IXSPFX_=templates%2Ffull%2F&_IXTRAIL_=Search+Results|url-status=live}}</ref> surrounded by panels depicting the elements, Fire, Water, Air and Earth.<ref name="FWAE">{{cite web|url=http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXSESSION_=ytpbIBebNLj&_IXSR_=VTqWz9O8C_N&_IXSS_=archives%3Dtrue%26works%3Dtrue%26_IXACTION_%3Dquery%26_IXTRAIL_%3DSearch%2BResults%26books%3Dtrue%26_IXMAXHITS_%3D18%26%252asform%3D%252fsearch_form%252fallform%26_IX%252ex%3D11%26_IXresults_%3Dy%26_IXSESSION_%3DytpbIBebNLj%26_IX%252ey%3D10%26all_fields%3DBENJAMIN%2BWEST&_IXACTION_=summary&_IXFIRST_=145&_IXSP_=126&_IXSPFX_=templates%2Fsummary%2F&_IXTRAIL_=Search+Results&_IXresults_=y|title=RA Collections: Benjamin West|publisher=racollection.org.uk|access-date=21 June 2012|archive-date=16 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916211436/http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXSESSION_=ytpbIBebNLj&_IXSR_=VTqWz9O8C_N&_IXSS_=archives%3Dtrue&works=true&_IXACTION_=query&_IXTRAIL_=Search%20Results&books=true&_IXMAXHITS_=18&%2Asform=%2Fsearch_form%2Fallform&_IX.x=11&_IXresults_=y&_IXSESSION_=ytpbIBebNLj&_IX.y=10&all_fields=BENJAMIN%20WEST&_IXACTION_=summary&_IXFIRST_=145&_IXSP_=126&_IXSPFX_=templates%2Fsummary%2F&_IXTRAIL_=Search%20Results&_IXresults_=y|url-status=live}}</ref> At each end are mounted two of Kauffman's circular paintings, ''Composition'' at the west end, and ''Painting or Colour'' and ''Genius or Invention'' at the east end.<ref name="Kauffman circular">{{cite web|url=http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?*sform=%2Fsearch_form%2Fworksform&_IXTRAIL_=Search+Works+of+Art&_IXACTION_=query&_IXSPFX_=templates%2Fsummary%2F&_IXSP_=0&_IXresults_=y&artist_name=kauffman&artist_role_sval=&title=&all_fields=&type=&work_date=&sort_by=&submit=Search|title=RA Collections: Angelica Kauffman|publisher=racollection.org.uk|access-date=21 June 2012|archive-date=16 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916211520/http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?*sform=%2Fsearch_form%2Fworksform&_IXTRAIL_=Search+Works+of+Art&_IXACTION_=query&_IXSPFX_=templates%2Fsummary%2F&_IXSP_=0&_IXresults_=y&artist_name=kauffman&artist_role_sval=&title=&all_fields=&type=&work_date=&sort_by=&submit=Search|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Michelangelo's ''Taddei Tondo''===
[[File:Taddei Tondo.JPG|right|thumb|''The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John'']]
{{Main|Taddei Tondo}}
The most prized possession of the Academy's collection is [[Michelangelo]]'s ''[[Taddei Tondo]]'', left to the Academy by [[George Beaumont|Sir George Beaumont]]. The Tondo is usually on display in the Collection Gallery, which opened in May 2018. Carved in [[Florence]] in 1504–1506, it is the only marble by Michelangelo in the United Kingdom and represents the [[Virgin Mary]] and child with the infant [[St John the Baptist]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/the-making-of-an-artist-the-great-tradition|title=The Making of an Artist: The Great Tradition &#124; Exhibition &#124; Royal Academy of Arts|website=www.royalacademy.org.uk|access-date=19 May 2018|archive-date=18 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518221732/https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/the-making-of-an-artist-the-great-tradition|url-status=live}}</ref>