Reynolds used this model on several occasions in the 1760s and included it in his history pictures, for example, the King Lear (Postle in Mannings no. 2100, pl. 133, fig. 1649) which also belonged to the artist’s niece, Mary,Marchioness of Thomond. In this spirited study Reynolds was relying heavily on the old master tradition of painting old men in the manner of Rembrandt.

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