Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children

Reynolds's Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children from 1777, in the National Gallery of Art, is one of his finest maternal group portraits, depicting a young mother with her two sons in a landscape setting. The composition draws on the tradition of the sacra conversazione—the Madonna and Child in a landscape—to elevate a family portrait to the level of classical art. The painting embodies Reynolds's ideal, expressed in his Discourses, that modern portraiture should aspire to the timeless grandeur of Old Master painting.

Reynolds arranges the family in a pyramidal composition inspired by Renaissance prototypes, with the mother's warm, protective gesture forming the emotional center. The rich palette, the atmospheric landscape, and the idealized yet individualized treatment of the figures demonstrate his mature synthesis of portrait and history painting.