Portraits des premiers fondateurs de l'Académie Anglaise des Beaux-Arts (Portraits of the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts, London), from "L'Univers Illustré"

Published in a French journal, this wood engraving reproduces a 1771-72 painting by Zoffany (Royal Collection) portraying members of the Royal Academy at its foundation in 1768, plus several men recently elected. The group gathers here in the life drawing room at Old Somerset House with casts of classical sculpture behind indicatingi reverence for that tradition. Two female members appear as portraits on the wall, since it was considered unseemly at this time for women to draw from male nudes in a public setting. Mason's print, published in the "L’Univers Illustré," demonstrates French interest in the history of British art. The portraits include:
Johann Joseph Zoffany (1733–1810), German born painter (lower left, seated and holding a palette).
John Gwynn (1713–1786), architect (in profile, above West).
Benjamin West (1738–1820), American-born painter (above Gwynn, full length, with bent knee).
Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727–1785), Italian-born painter (in profile, upper left).
Mason Chamberlin (1727–1787), portrait painter (seated, by West's knee).
Joseph Wilton (1722–1803), sculptor (above Chamberlin).
George Barret (1732–1784), landscape painter (above Wilton, next to West's shoulder).
Tan-che-qua, Chinese born modeller, a visitor to the Royal Academy Schools in 1771 (above Barret).
Jeremiah Meyer (1735–1789), miniature painter (above and slightly right of Tan-che-qua).
Dominic Serres (1719–1793), marine painter (above and slightly right of Meyer).
Francis Hayman (1708–1776), painter (seated in the front row with feet spread and hands on knees).
Paul Sandby (1725–1809) and Thomas (1721–98) Sandby, brothers and painters (in conversation, above and to the left of Hayman).
William Tyler (1728 –1801), sculptor and architect (to the right of Sandby).
John Inigo Richards (1731–1810), painter (to the right of Tyler).
Francis Milner Newton (1720–1794), painter (to the right of Richards and next to Hayman's head).
Sir William Chambers (1723–1796), architect and treasurer of the Academy (to the right of Newton).
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), painter and first President of the Academy (to the right of Chambers, holding an ear trumpet).
William Hunter (1718–1783), surgeon and Professor of Anatomy at the Academy (to the right of Reynolds).
Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815), Italian-born engraver (to the right of Hunter, facing right).
Charles Catton, the Elder (1728–1798), satirical painter (seated in the front row, to the right of Bartolozzi).
Agostino Carlini (ca.1718–1790), Italian-born sculptor and painter (above Catton, to the right of Bartolozzi).
Richard Yeo (ca. 1720–1779), medalist (standing, front row, to the right of Catton).
Richard Wilson (1714–1782), landscape painter (above Yeo).
Samuel Wale (1721–1786), painter (at desk, to the right of Yeo).
Francesco Zuccarelli (1702–1788), Italian-born landscape painter (standing, to the right of Wale).
Edward Penny (1714–1791), painter (standing, above and to the right of Zuccarelli).
Peter Toms (ca.1728–1777), painter (behind and right of Penny).
George Michael Moser (1706–1783), enamellist and Keeper of the Academy (setting the model’s pose).
Edward Burch (1730–1814), miniature painter and gem-cutter elected in 1771 (under the model's raised arm).
Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807), Swiss-born painter (left hand portrait on wall).
Mary Moser (1744–1819), flower painter (right hand portrait on wall).
Nathaniel Hone (1718–1784), Irish portrait painter (under Kauffmann portrait).
Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823), sculptor elected in 1772 (seated, under Hone).
Richard Cosway (1742–1821), portrait painter, elected in 1771 (standing at right front with cane).
William Hoare "of Bath" (1707–1792), portrait painter (at far right, in profile).