=Original Picture:= National Gallery, London,
England.
=Artist:= Sir Joshua Reynolds (r[)e]n´´[)u]ldz).
=Birthplace:= Plympton, Devonshire, England.
=Dates:= Born, 1723; died, 1792.
=Questions to arouse interest.= What do you see in this picture? Why
do you think these heads look alike? How do they differ? How many are
looking up? Which one is looking right at you? Where are the others
looking? Where does the light come from? Where does the ray of light
strike each head? Which looks the happiest? the most thoughtful? Which
one seems to be singing? Which one do you like best? why? How many
know a little girl with blue eyes and light hair who looks something
like one of these?
=The story of the picture.= Far back in a beautiful yard, so large
that it was almost a park, was a house so fine that people drove past
just to see it. In this house lived a nobleman, his wife, and one
lovely little daughter. Their names were Lord and Lady William Gordon,
and the little girl's name was Frances Isabelle Gordon. Perhaps you
have already guessed that she was the little girl we see in this
picture. And this is how she happened to have her picture painted:
The artist, Sir Joshua Reynolds, was a great friend of Lord and Lady
Gordon and used to visit them very often. He would ride in a splendid
carriage which was gilded and carved on the outside and decorated with
wonderful pictures painted by himself. He had a coachman and footman,
too, and when he came riding up the long driveway, little Frances must
have run out to see the great carriage, for no one else had one like it.
Soon Sir Joshua Reynolds and Frances Isabelle became great friends. He
could tell such good stories! And then he liked to play games with
her, and above all he liked to tease her. But she did not mind his
teasing, for she could run away from him when she did not like it.
Sometimes he would invite her to ride home with him in his carriage.
Then he would show her his studio where he painted, and let her play
with some of the toys he always kept ready for his little friends. Very
likely her mother would tell him to send her home in an hour. How she
must have enjoyed the ride back all alone in the big carriage, with the
tall coachman and footman sitting so straight! No doubt she pretended
she was a great lady riding in state, and sat very still and proper.
Sir Joshua Reynolds loved this little girl very much, and he was glad
indeed when one day her mother brought her to have her picture painted.
[Illustration: _Angels' Heads_]
There were no photograph galleries then such as we have now, so there
was no other way to have one's picture taken. The great artist put
his piece of canvas on an easel and mixed his colors. Then he told
Frances Isabelle just where to sit. Although Sir Joshua Reynolds
painted very rapidly, she had to sit still for a long time, and come
several days, before the picture could be finished.
First he drew her looking straight at him watching him arrange his
paints. Then he began to make sketches of her in different positions,
but he liked her so much in all, that he could not decide which one to
use. Finally, he thought of painting them all in one picture. Then, as
little Frances looked so lovely and so like an angel, he decided to
add the wings and clouds and call his picture "Angels' Heads."
You see at that time, not having any photographers, no one thought of
showing a person in different positions all in one picture as we do
nowadays. People were very glad then to have one good picture of their
friends.
Imagine how pleased and delighted Lord and Lady Gordon must have been
with these five pictures instead of one, and all so like their little
girl! The angel heads seem to be floating in the clouds, their faces
lighted up by the bright ray of sunlight which is reflected in the
golden hair of each. For Frances Isabelle had the most beautiful
golden hair and the bluest of blue eyes.
The head at the lower left-hand side of the picture is serious and
thoughtful, as if some hard question had to be answered. The one just
above seems quiet, as if listening to the two other angels, who are
singing happily. These four have quite forgotten us, but the little
girl who looks straight at us seems to be right here in the room,
watching us and wondering about us. A happy, healthy little girl, she
looks as if she would like to run and play with us. Such a sweet,
winsome face! No wonder Sir Joshua loved her very much.
People came from far and near to see this beautiful painting when it
was finished. Finally, years later, Lord and Lady Gordon gave it to
the city of London to hang in the National Gallery of paintings for
all to see. There it still hangs, and people who go to London always
look for it, and find it just as lovely as ever.
=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= Of whom is this
a picture? Where did she live? How did she happen to have her picture
painted? Who painted it? What kind of a carriage did he have? What did
he sometimes ask her to do? Why did she not go to a photographer to
have her picture taken? How long did it take Sir Joshua Reynolds to
paint her picture? Why did he paint so many pictures of her? Why did
he call the picture "Angels' Heads"? How many faces are looking at
us? Where do they seem to be? Which one is the prettiest? Did Lord and
Lady Gordon like this picture?
=The story of the artist.= Sir Joshua Reynolds's father was a teacher
in a private school, and to this school Joshua was sent as soon as he
was old enough. Even when a very little boy Joshua liked to draw. He
liked so well to draw that it was very hard for him to study in
school. He always saw so many things to draw that he could not wait
until after school, but drew them on the back of his lesson papers.
One day he drew all over his number paper, and when he handed it in,
his father could not read the numbers on account of the drawing. His
father was disappointed because his son's paper did not look so neat
as the other boys', and so he wrote at the top of the paper, "Done by
Joshua out of pure idleness."
Joshua had five brothers and sisters who liked to draw just as well as
he did, and who could all draw very much better than he could.
It took so much paper and so many pencils for all his children, that
finally the father told them they might draw on the walls of the
halls. These walls had been whitewashed and the children used burnt
sticks for pencils.
At first the older brothers and sisters used to help little Joshua by
guiding his hand, but he soon learned to draw as well as they. His
first drawings had been so funny that they had laughed at him. Now
they praised him instead.
When he was only eight years old Joshua drew a picture that every one
praised very much. It was a picture of the schoolhouse. His father was
so pleased when he saw it that he said, "This is wonderful!"
In the little town where Joshua lived the people went to church on
Sundays, of course, and sometimes also during the week. One day,
Joshua went to church. At first he sat very still; but the sermon was
a very long one, and finally he grew so tired he could not listen
another minute. He thought he would like to draw a picture of the
minister, but he had nothing to draw it on. Then he remembered that he
had a pencil in his pocket, and that he could draw the picture on his
thumb nail. That is just what he did.
The church was near the river, and after church Joshua went down to
the river bank. Finding a piece of an old sail, he carried it to a
boathouse, and here, from the picture on his thumb nail, he drew on
the piece of sail the portrait of the minister. Then he painted it,
using common paint such as is used to paint boats. Joshua was only
eleven years old, and had finished his first oil painting. His father
had wanted him to be a doctor, but after seeing this picture he
decided to let Joshua have his own way and be a painter. He sent him
to a good teacher, and lived to see his son a great artist.
=Questions about the artist.= Who painted this picture? What did Sir
Joshua Reynolds like to do when he was a boy? Who was his teacher? How
did he spoil his number paper? Why was his father disappointed? How
many brothers and sisters did he have? On what did they draw? With
what did they draw? How old was Joshua when he drew the picture of the
schoolhouse? What did his father say when he saw this picture? How did
Joshua happen to paint a picture of the minister? On what did he make
his first sketch? Where did he finish the picture? On what did he
paint it? What kind of paints did he use? What did Joshua's father
want him to be when he grew up? After he had seen this picture, what
did he say Joshua might be? Why do we want to remember him?