Fifteen Discourses

Joshua Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devon, on 16th July, 1723. His father, although a fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, did not send any of his sons to university. However, his elder sister, Mary, a supporter of his early drawing talents did. In 1740 she provided £60, half of the premium paid to Thomas Hudson the portrait-painter, for Joshua's pupilage. Hudson had a collection of Old Master drawings, including some by Guercino, of which Reynolds made copies. Although apprenticed for four year