Reynolds 300: Portrait of Theresa Robinson

In this large-scale work which is on loan to the ‘Reframing Reynolds: A Celebration’ exhibition from the National Trust, Reynolds depicts Theresa in profile, a formal pose often used for funerary images. This would prove to be an uncanny choice as Theresa sadly died three years after the portrait was completed following complications after she lost a baby.

Theresa was loved and admired for her good nature and taste, not least by Reynolds who was very fond of her and wrote her obituary. Of this portrait, she wrote: ‘Mr Parker says I am drawn feeling my pulse; it may not be the less like for that, as I am apt to do so’.

This is one of several Reynolds portraits that are being conserved by the National Trust in 2023. The painting was examined using a range of techniques, including inspection under ultra-violet light, which revealed discoloured areas of old varnish. This, along with information about the painting’s original appearance from a historic mezzotint print, informed the conservators’ approach to removing varnish and overpaint layer by layer, area by area. The work was carried out at the Royal Oak Conservation Studio at Knole, Kent.