''Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney: The Archers'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

undertaken between 1769 and 1770. The artwork depicts the two

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

s Colonel John Dyke Acland (1746–1778; at right) and

Lord Sydney Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (24 February 1733 – 30 June 1800) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1783 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Sydney. He held several important Cabinet posts in ...

(1732–1774), a diplomat. Reynolds began the work in 1769, and completed it the next year. In 1769 Reynolds had become the first president of the new

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. In September 2005, the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

purchased the painting for more than £2.5 million, equivalent to US$4.4 million.

Analysis

The work portrays the two men holding each a bow, while the

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

was the more popular choice of weapon at the time. These two bow-wielding men can be seen in the clearing of a forest. They are both garbed in

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

clothing; their hunted prey lies close to their feet. Their facial expressions, coupled with Sydney's eagerness and poise, suggest that they are both preparing to loose an

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

at an approaching animal. Distantly in the background, a river, a clump of trees, and a meadow can be seen. Further back, at the skyline mountain peaks can be seen below thick grey clouds. The portrait shares the same textural schemes and design of several other works by Reynolds. The allusion to the classical era is apparent in both the clothing worn by the two aristocrats, and their choice of weapon.

Notes

a. However, the use of the bow for recreational use was, at the time, coming back into revival, and so this may not have been too uncommon when Reynolds created the work.

Citations

References

The Art FundTate Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colonel Acland And Lord Sydney: The Archers Portraits by Joshua Reynolds 1770 paintings Collection of the Tate galleries Deer in art Birds in art Hunting in art Paintings about death