“The Apollo of the Palace”: Gainsborough, Fashion, and the Royal Family SOLD OUT

In this lecture, Anna Reynolds, Surveyor of The King’s Pictures, Royal Collection Trust, will explore the role of clothing in Gainsborough’s royal portraits, offering a holistic view of his career that considers both the key artistic influences shaping his depictions of dress and the impact of his work on later artists. Close comparison with surviving eighteenth‑century garments will illuminate how Gainsborough translated three‑dimensional fashions into compelling two‑dimensional images. A detailed examination of the paintings themselves will shed light on the unconventional working methods that enabled him to create “beautiful things from unlikely subjects.”