Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/640

 610 Painting he seems to have employed his time chiefly in studying all the varieties of excellence, and in acquiring that knowledge of effect which he was so soon to display. The dignity of Michelangelo or the beauty of Raphael he had no chance of attaining, for he wanted loftiness of imagination, without which no grand work can ever be achieved ; but he had a deep sense of character, great skill in light and shade, and an alluring sweetness, such as none has surpassed. From the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Bartolommeo, Titian, and Velazquez, he acquired know- ledge, which placed fortune and fame within his reach ; yet of these artists he says little, though he acknowledged the Portrait of Innocent X. by Velazquez to be the finest in the world. From Rome, Reynolds travelled to Florence, where he remained two months ; and thence to Venice. He returned to London in October, 1752 ; and, after visiting Devonshire for a few weeks, established himself as a professional man in St. Martin's Lane, London, where he rapidly rose to fame ; he soon changed his residence for a handsome house in Great Newport Street, and shortly afterwards commenced a friendship with Samuel Johnson, which was continued to old age without interruption. In the year 1761, accumulating wealth began to have a visible effect on Reynolds's establishment. He quitted Great Newport Street, purchased a fine house in Leicester Square, furnished it with much taste, and added a splendid gallery for the exhibition of his works. The Royal Academy was planned and proposed in 1768 by Chambers, West, Cotes and Moser; the caution or timidity of Reynolds kept him for some time from assisting. A list of thirty members was made out; and West, a