Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.538
Gallery Label:
In this group portrait, Romney’s last major painting, the poet William Hayley gazes intensely at the viewer as the neoclassical sculptor John Flaxman works on his bust. Flaxman is assisted by his apprentice, Hayley’s son Thomas Alphonso. On the left, Romney has inserted himself, palette in hand and smiling mischievously, completing this tribute to his closest friends. Hayley was at the center of a circle of artists and writers that included Romney and Flaxman. He encouraged Romney to pursue history painting; many of Romney’s more ambitious ideas came from Hayley’s suggestions, including his drawings of the reformer John Howard visiting a prison, shown nearby. Romney’s spare sketches of darkly fantastical subjects in turn influenced Flaxman, whose drawings are shown at left and right. Romney’s work similarly inspired Flaxman’s close collaborator, the visionary artist William Blake, who referred to the painter as "our admired Sublime Romney." Gallery label for Romney: Brilliant Contrasts in Georgian England (Yale University Art Gallery, 2025-03-28 - 2025-09-14)
