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| James Thornhill Thetis accepting the Shield of Achilles from Vulcan ca. 1710 oil on panel Tate Gallery |
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| Francesco Sleter A Representation of the Liberal Arts - ceiling design for the State Dining Room at Grimsthorpe Castle ca. 1724 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"Although painted decorative schemes within houses were often used as vehicles for expressing political messages or personal power, the ceilings at Grimsthorpe appear to follow neutral, fairly convention themes. . . . Sleter's oil sketch is obviously a preliminary idea, as the finished ceiling (executed on strips of canvas applied to the ceiling, not oil on plaster) in many respects differs substantially. . . . Sleter is first recorded in England in 1719, but his work at Grimsthorpe is possibly his earliest to survive in this country. Unlike other Venetian decorative artists working there, who pursued itinerant, international careers, Sleter remained in England until his death in 1775, aged ninety."
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| Giacomo Amiconi Mercury about to slay Argus 1730-32 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"This is a preliminary oil sketch for one of the four large canvases by Amiconi which still decorate the lower part of the Hall at Moor Park, Hertfordshire. Together they illustrate the story from Greek mythology of Jupiter and Io, told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 1. . . . The Venetian artist Amiconi arrived in England from Munich in 1729 and remained there for ten years, establishing himself as a mythological decorative painter and also as a portraitist."
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| Francis Hayman The Wrestling Scene from As You Like It ca. 1740-42 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| Thomas Gainsborough Landscape with Gipsies ca. 1753-54 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"In this unfinished painting, Gainsborough explored for the first time the subject of gipsies or peasants gathered round a camp fire. While the subject of gipsies had precedents in seventeenth-century Dutch, Flemish, and Italian art, Gainsborough appears to have been the first British painter to have explored the theme in depth and made it the focus of at least three paintings. . . . The picture is believed to date from around 1753-54 and to have been commissioned by a gentleman in Ipswich. According to a story cited by Walter Thornbury, Gainsborough slashed the canvas in a temper when the client claimed he did not like it. Two slashes across the picture are detectable, so the story may well be true. The picture was subsequently rescued by, or given to, Gainsborough's friend, Joshua Kirby (1716-74) who had it repaired."
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| Benjamin West Pylades and Orestes brought as Victims before Iphigenia 1766 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| Benjamin West Cleombrutus ordered into Banishment by Leonidas II, king of Sparta 1768 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"Benjamin West showed this painting at the second exhibition of the newly formed Royal Academy. After several years in Italy, West had established himself in London as the leading painter of subjects from classical history. His example, and the Academy's teaching, encouraged numerous young British artists to study in Italy. His subject is an incident from ancient Greek history. Leonidas, king of Sparta, was usurped by his son-in-law, Cleombrutus. When Leonidas returns looking for revenge, his daughter pleads for her husband's life. Leonidas is moved by her tears, and commutes Cleombrutus's death sentence to banishment."
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| Richard Wilson Meleager and Atalanta ca. 1770 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| John Hamilton Mortimer The Hero Decides to seek his Fortune ca. 1775 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"Attracted by the growing Romantic fashion for giving outlaws and anti-establishment figures heroic stature, Mortimer produced two complementary sets of narrative paintings entitled The Progress of Vice (1774, now lost) and this, [above, one of four, from] The Progress of Virtue (1775). They continue the tradition of painted moral tales begun by Hogarth in the early 1730s, but lack his biting satire on contemporary society. "
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| Henry Walton A Girl buying a Ballad ca. 1778 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| George Stubbs Reapers 1785 oil on panel Tate Gallery |
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| George Stubbs Haymakers 1785 oil on panel Tate Gallery |
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| Thomas Lawrence Homer Reciting his Poems 1790 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"For most of his career, Lawrence featured in the Royal Academy exhibitions as a portrait painter. He became President of the Academy and, like his predecessor Joshua Reynolds, aspired to be a history painter. This early work was exhibited in 1791. It was painted for the connoisseur, Richard Payne Knight, and its subject and style were calculated to suit his classical taste. In a woodland glade, the Greek poet Homer is shown reciting his Iliad to an admiring audience. The nude youth in the foreground was drawn from a famous pugilist named Jackson."
– all quoted passages based on notes by curators at the Tate in London
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| Henry Fuseli The Shepherd's Dream, from Paradise Lost 1793 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |