"When the Student has been habituated to this grand conception of the Art, when the relish for this stile is established, makes a part of himself, and is woven into his mind, he will, by this time, have got a power of selecting from whatever occurs in nature that is grand, and corresponds with that taste which he has now acquired, and will pass over whatever is commonplace and insipid."

— Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by Thomas Cadell
Date
December 10, 1790; 1791
Metaphor
"When the Student has been habituated to this grand conception of the Art, when the relish for this stile is established, makes a part of himself, and is woven into his mind, he will, by this time, have got a power of selecting from whatever occurs in nature that is grand, and corresponds with that taste which he has now acquired, and will pass over whatever is commonplace and insipid."
Metaphor in Context
When the Student has been habituated to this grand conception of the Art, when the relish for this stile is established, makes a part of himself, and is woven into his mind, he will, by this time, have got a power of selecting from whatever occurs in nature that is grand, and corresponds with that taste which he has now acquired, and will pass over whatever is commonplace and insipid. He may then bring to the mart such works of his own proper invention as may enrich and increase the general stock of invention in our Art.
(p. 27)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
From 1769 to 1772 Reynolds' lectures were delivered annually, with each discourse published shortly after its delivery. After 1772, the lectures were delivered biennially. The first seven discourses were collected and published together in 1778. In 1797, the first collected edition of all fifteen appeared, with a second edition issued in 1798. See the ODNB.

Text from A Discourse, Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, Dec. 10, 1790. By the President. (London: Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1791). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/25/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.