_-_Laurence_Sterne_(after_Joshua_Reynolds)_-_YORAG_%2C_572_-_York_Art_Gallery.jpg&width=1200)
Laurence Sterne (after Joshua Reynolds)
William Etty·c. 1805
Historical Context
The novelist Laurence Sterne appears in this copy after Joshua Reynolds, painted around 1805 and held at York Art Gallery. Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy and born in Ireland but raised partly in Yorkshire, held particular interest for Etty as a fellow Yorkshireman of distinction. Reynolds's original portrait captured Sterne's witty, irreverent personality, and Etty's copy provided an opportunity to study the techniques of Britain's first President of the Royal Academy.
Technical Analysis
The copy translates Reynolds's characteristic portrait style through Etty's warmer palette, subtly altering the original's cooler tonality. Sterne's famously quizzical expression is rendered with attention to the details of physiognomy that convey personality. The exercise of copying allowed Etty to analyze Reynolds's approach to flesh painting and costume rendering from the inside.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice Etty copying Reynolds's portrait of the novelist Laurence Sterne — a fellow Yorkshireman of distinction, author of Tristram Shandy.
- ◆Look at Etty's warmer palette subtly altering the original's cooler tonality while preserving Sterne's famously quizzical expression.
- ◆Observe the exercise of copying allowing Etty to study portrait technique while honoring a Yorkshire predecessor.
_-_Head_of_a_Cardinal_-_FA.72(O)_-_Victoria_and_Albert_Museum.jpg&width=400)
_-_The_Ring_-_997-1886_-_Victoria_and_Albert_Museum.jpg&width=400)
