Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces

1763–65

Oil on canvas, 95 1/2 × 59 3/4 in. The Art Institute of Chicago

A bride-to-be in classical robes pouring an offering before statues of the Graces: the Grand Manner, lifting a portrait toward history painting.

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One long diagonal runs from the raised dish down through her body to the trailing hem, so the whole figure moves toward the statues.
The loose robe in pale pink and white is painted broadly, with none of the lace and pattern of fashionable dress.
Warm brown architecture fills most of the canvas; the cool sky and statues appear only through the arch at upper left.

Commissioned by her soon-to-be husband, Charles Bunbury, apparently for 250 guineas; shown at the Society of Artists in 1765.
As the Royal Academy's first president, Reynolds pressed painters toward history subjects modelled on antiquity and the Renaissance.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain