Reynolds painted people the way he thought they ought to be seen, and that idea alone makes him worth a stitcher's attention. He called it the Grand Style, and it depended on idealizing the imperfect. That is not far from what we do at the fabric.
He was born in 1723 and died in 1792, trained under Thomas Hudson, and became the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. George III knighted him in 1769. Lucy Peltz called him the leading portrait artist of the 18th century, and one writer has gone as far as naming him the master who revolutionised British art. Portraits were his living, but he reached into allegory and history painting too, which is why this small group of patterns covers such different ground.
Start with The Infant Samuel at Prayer. At Level 3 it is the gentlest way in here, a single figure with quiet, contained shading that rewards patience without punishing a stitcher who is still building confidence. Juno Receiving the Cestus from Venus and Study for King Lear both sit at Level 4, and the Juno in particular is a proper mythological counted cross stitch project with a lot of figure work to hold together. Then there are the two big ones. Jane, Countess of Harrington and The Children of Edward Holden are Level 5, Big League, and I would not hand either to a beginner. Full-length portraiture with that much fabric behind it takes months. Both finish as framed wall art that people stop and look at, which is the point of taking it on.
If Reynolds suits you, follow the thread outward. He taught Joseph Mallord William Turner and left his mark on Thomas Lawrence, both charted here in pairs. For more Neoclassicism from his own lifetime, Jacques-Louis David is the deepest well in the shop with eight patterns, and Angelica Kauffmann worked the same portrait and allegory territory.
Love the paintings themselves? Sir Joshua Reynolds art prints are easy to find if you want one on the wall while you stitch.
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