Editing Joshua Reynolds (section)

==Personal characteristics==

[[File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - Huang Ya Dong 'Wang-Y-Tong' - 129924 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|''[[Wang-y-tong|Huang Ya Dong 'Wang-Y-Tong]]''' (1776)]]

In appearance Reynolds was not striking. Slightly built, he was about 5'6" tall with dark brown curls, a florid complexion and features that James Boswell thought were "rather too largely and strongly limned." He had a broad face and a cleft chin, and the bridge of his nose was slightly dented; his skin was scarred by smallpox and his upper lip disfigured as a result of falling from a horse as a young man. [[Edmond Malone]] asserted however that "his appearance at first sight impressed the spectator with the idea of a well-born and well-bred English gentleman."

In his mature years he suffered from deafness, as recorded by [[Frances Burney]], although this did not impede his lively social life.<ref>Burney, F. ''The Diary of Fanny Burney'', Dent (Everyman edition), London, 1971, p. 27</ref> Renowned for his placidity, Reynolds often claimed that he "hated nobody". This may be self-idealisation. It is well known that he disliked [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], whom he referred to only as "the man in Cavendish Square" and whom he successfully prevented from becoming a member of the Royal Academy. He did not like Gainsborough, yet appreciated his achievements in the obituary he wrote of his rival. (Rump; Kidson). It is said that when he taught in one of his "discourses" that a painter should not amass too much of the colour blue in the foreground of an image, Gainsborough was prompted to paint his famous ''[[The Blue Boy]]''.

Never quite losing his Devonshire accent, Reynolds was not only an amiable and original conversationalist, but a friendly and generous host, so that Frances Burney recorded in her diary that he had "a suavity of disposition that set everybody at their ease in his society", and [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] believed "of all the polite men of that age, Joshua Reynolds was the finest gentleman". Dr Johnson commented on the "inoffensiveness" of his nature; Edmund Burke noted his "strong turn for humor". [[Thomas Barnard]], who later became [[List of Anglican Bishops of Killaloe|Bishop of Killaloe]], wrote in his closing verses on Reynolds stating:

<blockquote><poem>Thou say'st not only skill is gained
But genius too may be attained
By studious imitation;
Thy temper mild, thy genius fine
I'll copy till I make them mine
By constant application.</poem></blockquote>

[[File:Gilbert Stuart Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Joshua Reynolds]]'' by [[Gilbert Stuart]], 1784]]

Some people, such as [[Hester Lynch Piozzi]], construed Reynolds' equable calm as cool and unfeeling. It is to this lukewarm temperament that [[Frederick W. Hilles]], Bodman Professor of English Literature at [[Yale]] attributes Reynolds' never having married. In the editorial notes of his compendium ''Portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds'', Hilles theorises that "as a corollary one might say that he [Reynolds] was somewhat lacking in a capacity for love", and cites Boswell's notary papers: "He said the reason he would never marry was that every woman whom he liked had grown indifferent to him, and he had been <u>glad</u> he did not marry her." Reynolds' own sister, Frances, who lived with him as housekeeper, took her own negative opinion further still, thinking him "a gloomy tyrant". The presence of family compensated Reynolds for the absence of a wife; he wrote on one occasion to his friend [[Bennet Langton]], that both his sister and niece were away from home "so that I am quite a bachelor". Reynolds did not marry, and had no known children.

Biographer [[Ian McIntyre]] discusses the possibility of Reynolds having enjoyed sexual relations with certain clients, such as Nelly O'Brien (or "My Lady O'Brien", as he playfully dubbed her) and [[Kitty Fisher]], who visited his house for more sittings than were strictly necessary. [[Dan Cruickshank]] in his book ''London's Sinful Secret'' summarised Reynolds as having visited and re-visited various reputed red light districts in London after his return from Italy as a possible contributor to his medical condition and appearance due to commonly contracted disease in those areas of London.<ref>[[Dan Cruickshank]], ''London's Sinful Secret'', p.92. St. Martin's Press, New York (2009).</ref>

Regarding the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|British debate over the abolition of slavery]], abolitionist [[Thomas Clarkson]] claimed that Reynolds stated his opposition to the [[Atlantic slave trade]] at a dinner with a group of friends with Clarkson present. Clarkson had shown the group samples of [[cloth]] produced in Africa, and Reynolds "gave his unqualified approbation of the abolition of this cruel traffic". Reynolds also subscribed to the second edition of [[Ottobah Cugoano]]'s abolitionist work ''Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species''. Reynolds also had a Black servant who appears to have joined his household around the mid-1760s. Unlike Cugoano, however, his name is not recorded despite Northcote suggesting that the servant modelled for several of Reynolds’ paintings. Northcote stated that the man had been brought to Britain by Mary Mordaunt, the wife of landowner [[Valentine Morris]], though this account contained "inconsistencies and conflicting chronologies".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/joshua-reynolds-pra | title=Sir Joshua Reynolds &#124; Artist &#124; Royal Academy of Arts }}</ref>