Sir Joshua Reynolds, (artist), British, 1723 - 1792, Lady Elizabeth Delme and Her Children, 1777-1779, oil on canvas, overall: 238.4 x 147.2 cm (93 7/8 x 57 15/16 in.), framed: 266.4 x 175.3 cm (104 7/8 x 69 in.), Reynolds sought to elevate British painting, including portraiture, to the lofty realms of classical expression. After traveling to Rome, Florence, Bologna, and Venice, Reynolds became the first president of the Royal Academy, which had been founded in 1768. Through his teaching at the Academy and the publication of his annual lectures, the Discourses, he urged the adoption of grand classical values and the study of Greek and Roman sculpture and Renaissance painting..