Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd

Sir Joshua Reynolds
1723–1792
Dionysius Areopagita, a Nobleman of Athens and Disciple of St Paul
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 inches; 763 x 635 mm
Painted circa 1772

We are very excited to announce the discovery of a ‘lost’ painting by the first President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds. The painting, which was last recorded in 1905, has long been listed as missing. Dating from about 1772, it depicts a paviour from York, George White, who Reynolds used as a model for the first few years of the 1770s. As Joseph Moser noted:

‘Old George…owed the ease in which he passed his latter days, in a great measure to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who found him exerting himself in the laborious employment of thumping down stones in the street; and observing not only the grand and majestic traits of his countenance, but the dignity of his muscular figure, took him out of a situation to which his strength was by no means equal, clothed, fed, and had him, first as a model in his own painting room, then introduced him as a subject for the students of the Royal Academy’

Reynolds captivated by the ‘grand and majestic traits of his countenance’ converted White into a number of old testament and historical figures, most famously Count Ugolino in the painting of Ugolino and his Children which he exhibited at the Academy in 1773. Reynolds’s aim was to produce historical pictures which rivalled the old masters and in the present canvas he produced a highly atmospheric character study which evoked the work of great seventeenth century painters. The canvas was engraved by Joseph Jehner and entitled Dionysius Areopogita, thus White assumes the mantel of an Old Testament figure.

John Jehner, as Dionysius Areopagita, a Nobleman of Athens and Disciple of St Paul, in mezzotint, published 15 November, 1776.

There are very few surviving life studies of George White by Reynolds and this is the most significant to come on the market in recent years. Expect to hear more about this really thrilling discovery as we prepare our 2015 stock catalogue. Dr Martin Postle of the Paul Mellon Centre is publishing the painting in The Burlington Magazine later in 2014.