Page:EB1911 - Volume 23.djvu/244

Rh at West Point, where he was stationed at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He was made a lieutenant-colonel of infantry in May and brigadier-general of volunteers in August of that year. In the Peninsular campaign, after taking part in the battles of Beaver Dam Creek and Gaines' Mill, he was taken prisoner in the hard-fought action of Glendale or Frazier's Farm. Exchanged after six weeks' captivity, he commanded a division with conspicuous ability and courage in the second battle of Bull Run. Shortly after this he was placed in command of the militia of his native state when Lee's invasion threatened it. In November 1862 he was commissioned major-general of volunteers, and appointed to command the I. Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and took part in the battle of Fredericksburg. At the time of General Meade's appointment to command the Army of the Potomac many desired to see Reynolds selected for that post, but he gave Meade his whole-hearted support in the three critical days preceding the battle of (q.v.). He was placed by Meade in command of the left Wing (I., III. and XI. corps and Buford's cavalry division) and thrown forward to Gettysburg to cover the concentration of the Army of the Potomac. The battle which ensued there, on the 1st of July 1863, took its shape from Reynolds's resolution to support Buford's cavalry with the I. and XI. cropscorps [sic]. Meade was notified, and hurried forward the right wing under Hancock. Reynolds himself was killed very early in the day by a rifle bullets. A bronze statue was placed on the field of Gettysburg and a portrait in the library at West Point by the men of the I. Corps. The state of Pennsylvania erected a granite shaft on the spot where he fell, and an equestrian bronze statue stands in Philadelphia.

His elder brother (1815-1879), a naval officer, served afloat in the Civil War, effected many useful reforms while acting secretary of the navy in 1873 and 1874, and retired from the United States navy in 1877 as a rear-admiral.

REYNOLDS, SIR JOSHUA (1723-1792), the most prominent figure in the English school of painting, was born at Plympton Earl, in Devonshire, on the 16th of July 1723. He received a fairly good education from his father, who was a clergyman and the master of the free grammar school of the place. At the age of seventeen, the lad, who had already shown a fondness for drawing, was apprenticed in London to Thomas Hudson, a native of Devonshire, who, though a mediocre artist, was popular as a portrait painter. Reynolds remained with Hudson for only two years, and in 1743 he returned to Devonshire, where, settling at Plymouth Dock, he employed himself in portrait painting. By the end of 1744 he was again in London. He was well received by his old master, from whom he appears previously to have parted with some coldness on both sides. Hudson introduced him to the artists' club that met in Old Slaughter's, St Martin's Lane, and gave him much advice as to his work. Reynolds now painted a portrait of Captain the Hon. John Hamilton, the first that brought him any notice, with those of other people of some repute; but on the death of his father in 1746 he established himself with two of his sisters at Plymouth Dock, where he painted numerous portraits, and it was here that he came under the influence of the works of one of the painters who materially affected his art. This was William Gandy of Exeter, who had died in 1730, and whose painting, derived through his father from Van Dyck, was pronounced by Northcote to come nearer to nature in the texture of flesh than that of any artist who ever lived. The influence on him of Gandy may be seen in the early self-portrait of the National Portrait Gallery, so rich in impasto and strong in light and shade, in which he is seen shading his eyes with his hand. Meanwhile the pleasant urbanity of manner which distinguished Reynolds throughout life had been winning for him friends. He had made the acquaintance of Lord Edgcumbe, and by him was introduced to Captain (afterwards Viscount) Keppel. Keppel was made aware of Reynolds's ardent desire to visit Italy; and, as he had just been appointed to the command of the Mediterranean squadron, he gracefully invited the artist to accompany him in his own ship, the "Centurion." The offer was gladly accepted. While Keppel was conducting his tedious negotiations with the dey of Algiers, relative to the piracy with which that potentate was charged, Reynolds resided at Port Mahon, the guest of the governor of Minorca, painting portraits of the principal inhabitants; and in December 1749 he sailed for Leghorn, and thence, with all eagerness, made his way to Rome.

He has confessed that his first sight of the works of Raphael was a grievous disappointment, but he recognized afterwards, as he said, that the fault was in himself, and he brought his mind ultimately into the fitting posture of reverence. The fact is significant of Reynold's attitude towards the older masters. It has been often noticed that in his "Discourses" and elsewhere he praises just the very masters whose practice his own work implicitly condemns. The truth is that Reynolds was naturally a good critic, but was not strong enough to believe in his own opinions if they ran counter to the prevailing taste of his times. Of the early Italians he praises the "simplicity and truth" and observes that they "deserve the attention of a student much more than many later artists." In Venice he adopted a method of study that only a born painter could have thought of, making memoranda of the gradations of light and shade in the pictures, "and this without any attention to the subject, or to the drawing of the figures." On the other hand, we find him lavishing both attention and eulogy on the later Italian mannerists, such as Guido and the Carracci, and even Salviati and Vasari.

After a residence of more than two years in Rome, where he caught a severe cold which resulted in the deafness that clung to him for the rest of his life, Reynolds, in the spring of 1752, spent five months in visiting Parma, Florence, Venice and other important cities of Italy. Returning to England by way of Paris, Reynolds, after a brief stay in Devonshire, established himself as a portrait painter in St Martin's Lane, London, whence he afterwards removed to Great Newport Street, and finally, in 1760, to Leicester Square, where he continued to paint till his death. In London, Reynolds stepped at once and without a struggle into a foremost position as the fashionable portrait painter of the day. In this he was greatly helped by his success in society. Throughout his career his social occupations claimed the next place to his painting, and here it may be noticed that, though we read of some little ostentation in the form of a showy chariot and liveried lackeys, his good taste always kept him from any undue "push," or adulation of the great. At the outset Lord Edgcumbe played the part of the generous patron, and exerted himself to obtain commissions for his protégé, of whose ability the portraits which he now produced—especially the famous full-length of his old friend Keppel—were sufficient guarantee. The artist's painting room was thronged with the wealth and fashion of London. In 1755 his clients for the year numbered 120, and in 1757 the number of sittings recorded in his pocketbooks reached a total of 677. He was not always so busy, but his popularity never really waned, though various other artists competed with him for popular applause. First the Swiss Liotard had his moment of popularity; and at a later period there was Opie, and the more formidable, and sustained rivalry of Gainsborough and of Romney; but in the midst of all Reynolds maintained his position unimpaired. During the first year of his residence in London he had made the acquaintance of Dr Johnson, which, diverse as the two men were, became a friendship for life. To him Burke and Goldsmith, Garrick, Sterne and Bishop Percy were before long added. At the hospitable dinner-table of Reynolds such distinguished men enjoyed the freest and most unconstrained companionship, and most of them were members of the "Literary Club," established, at the painter's suggestion, in 1764.

In 1760 the London world of art was greatly interested by the novel proposal of the Society of Artists to exhibit their works to the public. The hall of the society was at their disposal for the purpose; and in the month of April an exceedingly successful exhibition was opened, the precursor of many that followed. To this display Reynolds contributed four portraits