Editing Joshua Reynolds (section)

==Later life==
In 1789, Reynolds lost the sight of his left eye, which forced him into retirement. In 1791 [[James Boswell]] dedicated his ''[[Life of Samuel Johnson]]'' to Reynolds. Reynolds  agreed with Burke's ''[[Reflections on the Revolution in France]]'' and, writing in early 1791, expressed his belief that the ''[[ancien régime]]'' of France had fallen due to spending too much time tending, as he puts it, <blockquote>to the splendor of the foliage, to the neglect of the stirring the earth about the roots. They cultivated only those arts which could add splendor to the nation, to the neglect of those which supported it – They neglected Trade & substantial Manufacture&nbsp;... but does it follow that a total revolution is necessary that because we have given ourselves up too much to the ornaments of life, we will now have none at all.<ref>McIntyre, p. 513.</ref></blockquote> When attending a dinner at [[Holland House]], Fox's niece Caroline was sat next to Reynolds and "burst out into glorification of the [[French Revolution|Revolution]] &ndash; and was grievously chilled and checked by her neighbour's cautious and unsympathetic tone".<ref>McIntyre, p. 487.</ref>
[[File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - The Ladies Waldegrave - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Ladies Waldegrave]]'' (1780)]]
On 4 June 1791, at a dinner at the [[Freemasons' Tavern]] to mark the King's birthday, Reynolds drank to the toasts "GOD ''save the'' KING!" and "May our glorious Constitution under which the arts flourish, be immortal!", in what was reported by the ''Public Advertiser'' as "a fervour truly patriotick". Reynolds "filled the chair with a most convivial glee".<ref name="McIntyre, p. 523">McIntyre, p. 523.</ref> He returned to town from Burke's house in [[Beaconsfield]] and [[Edmond Malone]] wrote that "we left his carriage at the Inn at Hayes, and walked five miles on the road, in a warm day, without his complaining of any fatigue".<ref name="McIntyre, p. 523"/>
[[File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - The Thames from Richmond Hill - N05635 - National Gallery.jpg|thumb|left|''The Thames from Richmond Hill'' (1788)]]
Later that month Reynolds suffered from a swelling over his left eye and had to be purged by a surgeon. In October he was too ill to take the president's chair and in November, [[Frances Burney]] recorded that <blockquote>I had long languished to see that kindly zealous friend, but his ill health had intimidated me from making the attempt": "He had a bandage over one eye, and the other shaded with a green half-bonnet. He seemed serious even to sadness, though extremely kind. 'I am very glad,' he said, in a meek voice and dejected accent, 'to see you again, and I wish I could see you better! but I have only one eye now, and hardly that.' I was really quite touched.<ref>McIntyre, pp. 523–524.</ref></blockquote> On 5 November, Reynolds, fearing he might not have an opportunity to write a will, wrote a memorandum intended to be his last will and testament, with [[Edmund Burke]], [[Edmond Malone]], and [[Philip Metcalfe]] named as executors. On 10 November, Reynolds wrote to [[Benjamin West]] to resign the presidency, but the General Assembly agreed he should be re-elected, with Sir [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]] and West to deputise for him.<ref name="McIntyre, pp. 524–525">McIntyre, pp. 524–525.</ref>

Doctors [[Richard Warren (physician)|Richard Warren]] and Sir [[George Baker, 1st Baronet|George Baker]] believed Reynolds' illness to be psychological and they bled his neck "with a view of drawing the humour from his eyes" but the effect, in the view of his niece, was that it seemed "as if the 'principle of life' were gone" from Reynolds. On New Year's Day 1792 Reynolds became "seized with sickness", and from that time onwards could not keep food down.<ref name="McIntyre, pp. 524–525"/>
Reynolds died on 23 February 1792 at his house at 47 [[Leicester Fields]] in London between eight and nine in the evening.

Burke was present on the night Reynolds died, and was moved within hours to write a eulogy of Reynolds, starting with the following sentiments: "Sir Joshua Reynolds was on very many accounts one of the most memorable men of his Time. He was the first Englishman who added the praise of the elegant Arts to the other Glories of his Country. In Taste, in grace, in facility, in happy invention, and in the richness and Harmony of colouring, he was equal to the great masters of the renowned Ages." Burke's tribute was well received and one journalist called it "the eulogium of [[Apelles]] pronounced by [[Pericles]]".<ref>McIntyre, p. 528.</ref>

Reynolds was buried at [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref> In 1903, [[Statue of Joshua Reynolds|a statue]], by [[Alfred Drury]], was erected in his honour in the Annenberg Courtyard of [[Burlington House]], home of the Royal Academy.<ref name="LR">{{cite web|url=http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/burlington-house-courtyard-joshua-reynolds|title=Burlington House courtyard – Joshua Reynolds|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref> Around the statue are fountains and lights, installed in 2000, arranged in the pattern of a star chart at midnight on the night of Reynolds' birth. The planets are marked by granite discs, and the Moon by a water recess.<ref name="AU">{{cite web|url=http://burlingtonhouse.org/about-us/|title=About Us|publisher=Burlington House|access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal|title=Stars in stone: the Annenberg Courtyard fountains|first=Margaret|last=Penston|date=1 April 2003|journal=Astronomy and Geophysics|volume=44|issue=2|pages=2.20–2.21|doi=10.1046/j.1468-4004.2003.44220.x|doi-access=}}</ref>