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@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 25, 2026, 6:18 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 3:27 PM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:35 PM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 10:53 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 7:02 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 23, 2026, 11:09 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 23, 2026, 9:11 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 23, 2026, 4:09 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 2:41 PM

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

@jasonmkelly.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 1:17 PM

Nearly 4m records of enslaved people in 20 former British colonies now searchable online: Former British Colonies Enslavement Registers #skystorians #18thc #C18

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 6:19 AM

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

View of a fountain and elevated colonnade with trees and figures

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 10:15 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 9:33 AM

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’

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 8:52 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 6:43 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 6:43 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 6:42 AM

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.

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 6:42 AM

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

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 20, 2026, 8:12 PM

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