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| Anonymous French or Italian artist Apollo ca. 1720 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"This work presents something of a puzzle, both as to its painter and to its genre. The lower section appears to be unfinished. The figure clearly represents the Roman god Apollo, for rays of light stream out from his laurel-wreathed head. To the right can be seen a lyre and sheet of music, to the left lies a small still life composed of three books, three sculpted figures of naked cherubs and some architectural instruments. These objects, representing the various arts, are also symbolic of Apollo. In the auction at which this work was acquired (1966) it was catalogued as a decorative work by Antonio Verrio (ca. 1639-1707) who worked in Britain from the 1670s. Following its acquisition by Tate, it was re-attributed to the Italian-trained French painter Louis Cheron (1660-1725) who was active in Britain from the 1690s onwards. Again, it was thought to relate to a decorative scheme. In 1983, however, the French scholar Georges de Lastic proposed that it was in fact an allegorical portrait of an unknown young nobleman in the guise of Apollo – a portrait-histoire – by the French painter Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746). Portraits of sitters in the roles of figures from Classical mythology and history were highly fashionable in elite circles in early and mid-eighteenth century France. This attribution is extremely plausible, as independent comparison with later works by Largillière reveals."
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| Andrea Soldi Portrait of Henry Lannoy Hunter in Oriental dress resting from hunting, with manservant holding game ca. 1733-36 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"Henry Hunter was a Levant Company merchant based in Aleppo, the trading capital of Syria (then under Ottoman rule) and the gateway to the silk routes. He is shown in Turkish attire, being presented with the trophies of his day's hunting. Hunting was a frequent pastime of the Aleppo merchants, whose leisure activities were otherwise restricted. The Italian painter Andrea Soldi travelled to the Middle East before settling in England in 1736 on the advice of the British merchants."
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| Gawen Hamilton The Du Cane and Boehm family group 1734-35 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"It is unlikely that the space the sitters occupy is a real interior. The arms above the chimneypiece would indicate a Boehm property, either in London or Twickenham, although the portraits on the wall represent Du Canes. It is more likely an imagined space created by the artist, conjured to reflect the fashionable taste of his patron. Indeed, Hamilton has altered the décor, from an initial Palladian to a more up-to-date and dynamic Rococo (the straight edges of the frames of the ancestral portraits are still faintly visible below their new decoration). The extremely flamboyant overmantel is an elaborated version of one Hamilton created for an earlier group portrait."
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| Joshua Reynolds Portrait of Suzanna Beckford 1756 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"Among the most striking features of this portrait is not Mrs. Beckford's face, but her opulent attire. She wears an open sacque dress (à la Française) of turquoise blue and silver watered silk, with matching trimmings on the bodice. The necklace, shoulder mantle and sleeve ruffles are of fine silk lace. Mrs. Beckford's dark hair is unpowdered, and decorated with a headdress composed of ribbons and feathers, called a pompon. Her jewellery includes clip-on earring (snaps), probably made of paste, and on her wrists two black silk bracelets mounted with miniatures. . . . The dress in the present portrait would almost certainly have been painted from a dummy or 'lay figure,' Mrs. Beckford's own sittings with Reynolds being used by the artist to model the facial features and general pose only. It is also probable, given the precision with which the costume is painted, that Reynolds relied upon the services of a professional 'drapery painter,' or possibly his in-house assistant Giuseppe Marchi. There is no surviving record of how much the portrait of Mrs. Beckford cost, although at that time Reynolds is known to have charged twenty-four guineas for a so-called 'half-length' portrait, such as the present one. Precisely how much of this was passed on to the drapery painter is uncertain, although according to Marchi, out of the forty-eight guineas Reynolds then charged for a full-length portrait, his drapery painter, Peter Toms, received fifteen, or just less than a third."
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| Johan Zoffany Portrait of three Daughters of John, 3rd Earl of Bute ca. 1763-64 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"In this animated portrait three of the daughters of the Earl are playing with pet squirrels. On the left is the youngest child, Lady Louisa Stuart, holding up a hazelnut to lure back one of the squirrels, which has become free of its tether. She wears a simple white dress with red shoes, which were fashionable attire for girls around this date. The older girl, seated in the centre dressed in an elegant coral red gown, is probably Lady Anne Stuart. Standing on the wooden garden bench and holding a string attached to the squirrel on the upper branch is Lady Caroline Stuart."
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| George Romney Portrait of Mr and Mrs William Lindow 1772 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| Thomas Gainsborough Musidora ca. 1780-88 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"This is the only large-scale nude that Gainsborough ever painted. It remained unfinished and was never shown in public in his lifetime. The title probably refers to the nymph Musidora who represented 'Summer' in a popular eighteenth-century poem, The Seasons, by James Thomson. But this title was added later. Gainsborough probably saw this woman more generally as an anonymous classical nymph. The figure's pose is based on a classical marble sculpture in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence."
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| Richard Wilson Llyn-y-Cau, Cader Idris ca. 1774 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"This picture shows the lake of Llyn-y-Cau on the mountain of Cader Idris in North Wales. The 'discovery' of such rugged and uncultivated scenery was greatly stimulated by the taste for the sublime: previously it would have seemed only raw and disorderly. Richard Wilson was one of the first to adapt the conventions of landscape painting to this sort of scenery, and was a major influence on other artists, including Turner. However, Wilson has still invented landscape features and heightened the precipice at the rear of the composition to create a more simplified and balanced composition."
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| George Romney Portrait of the Beaumont Family 1777-79 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| Joshua Reynolds Portrait of the Honourable Miss Monckton 1777-78 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"The novelist Fanny Burney described Mary Monckton in 1782 as "between thirty and forty, very short, very fat, but handsome, splendidly and fantastically dressed, rouged not unbecomingly, yet evidently and palpably desirous of gaining notice and admiration. She has an easy levity in her air, manner, voice, and discourse."
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| Gilbert Stuart Portrait of Benjamin West ca. 1781 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"The American-born painter Benjamin West was one of the most successful artists of his generation. He was one of King George III's favourite artists, which gave him privileges and wealth that made him the envy of his contemporaries. This polished portrait suggests an affluent and genteel personality. West's studio in London was a gathering place for Americans studying art in Europe. Many of these returned home to pursue careers in their newly independent homeland. This portrait is by one of West's most successful American students, Gilbert Stuart."
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| Gilbert Stuart Self-portrait ca. 1782-89 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
"At the time he painted this self-portrait, the American artist Gilbert Stuart was based in London and was a rising star in the art world. This slickly executed image, with its crisp design and clear, subtle colours, advertises the painter's technical sophistication. He took these skills back to American in 1793, where he established himself as a prolific and successful portrait painter."
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| Gilbert Stuart Portrait of William Woollett the engraver ca. 1783 oil on canvas Tate Gallery |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Four figures seated round a camp fire ca. 1796-97 gouache, watercolor Tate Gallery |
– quoted passages based on notes by curators at the Tate in London