Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces
Joshua Reynolds·1763–65
Historical Context
Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces (1763-65) is one of Reynolds's most celebrated paintings, depicting a real woman in a mythological role. Lady Sarah was famously beautiful and had been considered as a potential bride for George III. Reynolds's decision to show her performing a classical sacrifice transforms a society portrait into a history painting, exemplifying his theory that portraiture should aspire to the elevated status of history painting.
Technical Analysis
The ambitious composition combines portraiture with history painting conventions. Reynolds's handling of the classical drapery and sacrificial scene demonstrates his academic ambitions, while the portrait likeness maintains naturalistic warmth.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice that a real named woman — Lady Sarah Bunbury — is performing a classical sacrifice at an ancient altar, blurring portrait and history painting
- ◆Look at the classical drapery Reynold has given her in place of contemporary dress, elevating her from society sitter to mythological participant
- ◆Observe the votive flame and the altar itself — these props communicate learning and classical allusion, not merely decoration
- ◆Find how Reynolds balances the specific face (recognizable to contemporaries) with the idealized classical setting around it
- ◆Notice the outdoor landscape behind the scene, setting the sacrifice in a timeless Arcadian world rather than a specific location
Provenance
Commissioned by Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, sixth Bt. (d. 1821), husband of the sitter, apparently for 250 gns [Malcolm Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” Walpole Society 42 (1968–70, pp. 112, 145]; by descent to his nephew’s grandson, Sir Henry Charles John Bunbury, tenth Bt., Barton Hall and Mildenhall, Suffolk, to at least 1905 [Armstrong 1905]. Charles J. Wertheimer (d. 1911), London, by 1908 [according to London 1908]; sold Christie’s, London, May 10, 1912, no. 63, to Sulley [see London 1986]. Henry Reinhardt Gallery, New York and Chicago, by 1915; sold by Reinhardt to Mrs. W. W. Kimball (d. 1921), Chicago, 1915 [see American Art News 1915]; on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago from 1920; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1922.
See It In Person
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