The Career of Richard Samuel
Richard Samuel was an English portrait painter who gained recognition in London during the 1770s. He entered the Royal Academy's schools in 1770 and achieved distinction by winning the Society of Artists' award for the best historical drawing on two occasions. His professional life included serving as an assistant secretary at the Royal Academy from 1779 until his death. His artistic output consisted of portraits, whole length paintings, and conversation pieces, several of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1772 and 1779.
Samuel's technical interests included developing improvements for applying mezzotint grounds, though no surviving examples of his work utilizing this technique exist. One notable portrait he produced was a large-scale depiction of the engraver Robert Pollard, executed in the style of Thomas Gainsborough.
The Nine Living Muses of Great Britain
In 1777, Samuel produced a print featuring portraits of nine leading "blue stocking" women, portraying them as the nine Muses of the classical world. In 1778, he painted a version of this work, depicting these women without having taken sittings from them. This resulted in highly idealized figures, to the extent that Elizabeth Carter stated she could not identify herself or others in the painting. The subjects included:
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld as the poet
- Elizabeth Carter as the scholar
- Angelica Kauffman
- Elizabeth Griffith as a playwright
- Charlotte Lennox as a writer
- Catharine Macaulay as a historian
- Elizabeth Montagu as a leader of society
- Hannah More as a religious writer and playwright
- Elizabeth Ann Sheridan as a singer
This work is considered emblematic of the emergence of bluestockings in the eighteenth century. Some of Samuel's works are held in the Tate Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
