The pathos of the pose, it
may have been, as well as the classic face, allured the wanderer in
the galleries, and anchored him before this canvas.
The fame of Romney has steadily risen in the several generations from
the beginning to the end of the century. Though the painter of many
men of fame and ladies of fashion, his work was not held in the
greatest regard in his lifetime. Though often spoken of as the rival
of Reynolds, he had not the president's grasp of character or his
ability in giving classic grace to the dress of the period, and he was
never admitted as a member to the Academy.
When Lady Hamilton commenced posing for him, he, perhaps wisely for
his fame, reduced the number of his ordinary sitters, receiving none
until afternoon. The picturing of what he termed "her divine beauty"
became a passion with him; and the enthusiasm of the sitter was nearly
as great as that of the painter, and she enacted his classic
conceptions. The result is a superb series of pictures of faultless
female form, and loveliness of feature. Of the model's immoral career
we have naught now to do. Here is perpetual beauty, and it is ours to
enjoy.
[Illustration: MRS SHERIDAN by REYNOLDS]
ST. CAECILIA
There are few names more associated with the brilliant days of Bath,
the days of its social and artistic prominence, than those of Thomas
Linley, the composer, and of his daughter, Eliza Anne, known abroad as
"the Fair Maid of Bath.
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