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Joseph Wright of Derby, Sir Brooke Boothby (1781), Tate Britain #c18 #c18th #18thc

Sir Brooke, dressed in brown with white stockings and a black broad-brimmed hat, reclines languorously in a woodland setting, one arm propped up against a tree trunk. In the other he holds a volume that says ‘Rousseau’ on the spine

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Henry Fuseli (Füssli), Titania & Bottom (c1790), Tate Britain #c18 #c18th #18thc

Scene from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream showing the Queen of the Fairies enchanted by the ass-headed Bottom, surrounded by a crowd of fairies

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Chinese blue and white ceramics (late 17C to #c18 #c18th #18thc) from the collection of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, on loan to Tate Britain from The Hunterian, Glasgow

Four shelves of blue and white ceramic plates and vessels

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Torii Kinoyaga, scenes from Twelve Months in the South (1780s), from the collection of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, on loan to Tate Britain from the British Museum #c18 #c18th #18thc

Two scenes of women, some standing and some seated, in a anterior with a vview of a sailing ship seen through a window

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The temple in the gardens at Chiswick House #c18 #c18th #18thc

Temple with Ionic columns, framed by trees, overlooking a pond with an obelisk in the middle. Note the brown grass left by the summer’s drought)

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One of John Cheere’s original lead sphinxes (1749), preserved from the elements inside Chiswick House; the garden has stone replicas #c18 #c18th #18thc

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Chiswick House: portrait of Alexander Pope (1735) by William Kent above a door (validating Horace Walpole’s observation that Kent was a mediocre painter) #c18 #c18th #18thc

View of a white doorway with gilding and pediment, oval portrait above with supporting gilt merboys (putti with fishtails)

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Chiswick House: interior views (photography strictly verboten!) #c18 #c18th #18thc

The Blue Velvet Room, with rich silk wall hangings and masses of gilding. The photography police were too passively aggressively vigilant to allow me to take snaps of the Red Velvet Room, where the interpretive guides have gone pretty heavily into the ‘Lord Burlington was a crypto-Jacobite’ theory promoted by Jane Clark (which I’m not sure I buy)

Doorway in the Blue Velvet Room with gilt pediment and over door portrait flanked by gilt putti

Under the central octagonal dome , hung with large paintings over Roman marble bust on gilt brackets

Curved white marble fireplace with gilding

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La Folie XVIIIe @lafoliexviiie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Chiswick House (completed 1729) exterior views #c18 #c18th #18thc

The Earl of Burlington’s Palladian villa in white with a columned portico and dome, yellow stone wing to the right, seen from the gravel forecourt

Stone sphinx on a plinth in the garden (replacing John Cheere’s lead original of 1749)

View of the main block from an allée lined with cypresses

Stone gatepost topped by a (replacement) lead sphinx

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Reposted by neil guthrie

Affiche de l'exposition "Marie-Antoinette et Louis XVI à Fontainebleau. Splendeur et douceur de vivre" qui se tiendra du 11 octobre 2026 au 25 janvier 2027 au château de Fontainebleau. 🤗

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John Smart, portrait of an unknown gent (c1770). V&A #c18 #c18th #18thc

Oval portrait of a young man in a blue suit with a black silk collar, white shirt, hair powdered. The frame is set with sparkly brilliants

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James Smart, portrait miniature of Abdul Khaliq Sultan (c1792), eldest legitimate son of the Tipu Sultan of Mysore. V&A #c18 #c18th #18thc

Oval portarit miniature of a young Indian prince with an inquisitive look. White coat, pale red turban. He and his younger brother were taken hostage by the East India Company, which wanted concessions from Tipu Sultan. The portrait was probably intended to show that the prince had not been mistreated

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James Barry, self-portrait (c1775-80). V&A #c18 #c18th #18thc

Severe, perhaps angry expression. Brown hair in a fringe over his forehead, brown coat and white shirt, dark background

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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

William Blake, Eve tempted by the Serpent (c1799-1800), V&A #c18 #c18th #18thc

Small painting showing the naked Eve encircled by an enormous translucent gold serpent. There is tree trunk to the left, and Adam lies on the ground to the right, asleep. Behind, there is lake with a waterfall and a dark blue sky and moon

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Reposted by neil guthrie

A poster for my October lecture in Toronto!

Poster for “Joseph Brant’s Unwritten History” lecture, featuring a painting of Joseph Brant in regalia, event info, and speaker Dr. Robbie Richardson, University of Glasgow.

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neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Joseph-David Odevaere, Lord Byron on his deathbed (1826), Groeningemuseum, Bruges. (Long) #c18 #c18th #18thc

Byron lies naked on a Grecian bed, a sheet draped over him, with a purple curtain drawn slightly to reveal a window with a moody landscape outside. There is a lyre on the floor beside the poet’s hand. He is crowned with a laurel wreath. Along the base of the bed are the titles of some of his works in gold letters, encircled by laurel wreaths

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neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Matthias de Visch, Prince Charles of Lorraine & Bar as patron of the arts (1762), Groeningemuseum, Bruges #c18 #c18th #18thc

Allegorical figures of the arts supporting an oval portrait of the prince

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neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Jean-Bernard Duvivier, portrait of the Villars family (1790), Groeningemuseum, Ghent #c18 #c18th #18thc

In an interior with two Palladian windows, the Villars parents sit in the right on a red sofa. A young son stands behind them. To the left, two daughters in large hats with feathers, one holding an oval picture, the other with a large harp

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neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The fine and shiny buildings of the Grand’ Place, Brussels - mostly 1690s, so almost #c18 #c18th #18thc

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neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Hubert Robert, fantasy landscape (1775), Musées royaux, Brussels #c18 #c18th #18thc

View of a fountain and elevated colonnade with trees and figures

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In contrast to Marat, David’s final painting (Mars Disarmed by Venus, 1824) is horrendous. Musées royaux, Brussels. (Long) #c18 #c18th #18thc

Naked (but demure) figures of Mars and. Emus in a couch, attended by nymphs and Cupid. A bit like Ingres but saccharine

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That painting you’ve always assumed is in the Louvre but isn’t! Jacques-Louis David’s Assassinat de Marat (1793) in the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels #c18 #c18th #18thc

Marat, naked in his bath holding a letter from his assassin, Charlotte Corday. There is a single life-wound in his chest; the weapon lies beneath Marat on the floor

Detail of the letter: ‘du 13. juillet, 1793. Marie anne Charlotte Corday au citoyen Marat. il suffit que je sois bien malheureuse pour avoir Droit a votre bienveillance’

Detail of the letter and the box that stands beside the tub, on the top of which there is an inkwell and quill pen and an assignat. On the side of the box: À MARAT / DAVID. /L’AN DEUX’

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The Octagon (1720), Orleans House, by James Gibbs #c18 #c18th #18thc

Exterior: red brick, white stonework, tall Palladian windows below, round windows above

Interior with gilt plasterwork and chandelier. Snapped before a stroppy wedding planner ejected me

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William Hogarth, portrait of the young Horace Walpole (1727-28), Strawberry Hill #c18 #c18th #18thc

Walpole, aged 12, in brown velvet coat and blue waistcoat outdoors. He points to a sundial with the figure of a putto. A small spaniel races to Warner’s him. Gilt wood frame. Hanging against wallpaper meant to look like red silk brocade

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Johann Heinrich Müntz, Southeast view of Strawberry Hill (1755-58), which the house has on loan & hopes to acquire #c18 #c18th #18thc

View of Walpole’s white gothic villa framed by trees and set back on a lawn

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Monuments to Alexander Pope in St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham #c18 #c18th #18thc

Pope is actually buried under the stone slab inscribed ‘P.’

Monument in the gallery to Pope and his mother, Edith.

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The site of Pope’s grotto, Twickenham. I booked a ticket for one of the monthly tours but got my dates mixed up and wasn’t able to see the grotto 😔 #c18 #c18th #18thc

Plaque indicating the location of Pope’s grotto

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Strawberry Hill: views of the exterior #c18 #c18th #18thc

Four views of the white cricketer and crenallated exterior of Horace Walpole’s sham gothic villa

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OK, Nirvana (Nerdvana?): views of the interior of Strawberry Hill #c18 #c18th #18thc

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Francesco Guardi, View of the vaulted arcade of the Doge’s palace. Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

Small oval painting framed in gilt wood. Vaulted arcade with figures, Santa Maria della Salute in the distance

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Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Les heureux hasards de l’escarpolette, Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

Dazzling painting of a lady in a pink dress in a rich garden landscape. As she swings, one of her sippers flies off. A gentleman crouched below looks up in astonishment and delight. To their left, a statue of a putto with his finger to his lips. The pink of her dress is like enamel, in contrast to the hazy greens of the landscape. A tour de force (and the height of frivolity)

View of the painting hanging against red silk brocade wall hangings above a marquetry cabinet with. Dark green marble top on which there is a gilt bronze clock flanked by two blue sewers with gilt bronze mounts

Detail of the gent who is looking up into the skirts of the lady. Note that ladies did not wear underpants in the 18C

Detail: a lapdog also looks up from a bed of brightly painted flowers

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Jean-Antoine Watteau, Gilles and his family, Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

Gilles the melancholy clown in his white suit plays a guitar, flanked by pairs of figures. They stand before a classical archway through which there is a view of a landscape

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Poster advertising the sale of furniture and ‘effets’ of the late Queen Marie-Antoinette from the Petit Trianon (1793), Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc 😢

Vente de meubles et effets de la ci-devant reine, provenant du Petit Trianon …

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Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher (1759), Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

Portrait of la Pompadour, elegantly dressed and standing in a garden, a statue behind her. The picture has a gilt wood rococo frame and hangs above a table with a jasper urn (c1770-75) with elaborate gilt bronze mounts including two putti who perch on each side of the urn

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Almanach perpetuel made for Louis XV (1741-42), Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

Pair of white enamel panels in gilt bronze mounts with the French royal arms in ble and gold enamel at the top. These two panels list the saints’ days and other religious dates for January to March and April to June.

Two further panels: July to September and October to December

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Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Le Souvenir (c1776-78), Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

A young woman dressed in pink carves the initial S (hers? her lover’s?) on the turn of a tree. Her spaniel looks up from a bench.

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Sèvres overdose at the Wallace Collection #c18 #c18th #18thc

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