MASTERPIECE #3491

“Portrait of Mrs. Richard Bennett Lloyd of Maryland,”
by the workshop of Joshua Reynolds.

/// Deftly painted (inscribing a tree)
by Josh Reynolds was Joanna Leigh.
Here’s his workshop’s oil copy.
It’s distorted and sloppy.
Compare this to the Reynolds and see.

/// He showed details which bad copies lack.
This one seems like the work of a hack.
Though her profile’s dramatic,
here the lighting’s erratic,
and proportions are all out of whack.

/// The original’s hardly the same,
proving Joshua’s skills brought him fame.
In his version it’s clear
why this woman is here;
she carves into that tree her man’s name.

/// Here the background is sketchy and blurry.
As though copied too fast, in a hurry.
But those shapes ‘neath her waist
can’t be blamed just on haste.
(Reynolds needn’t, about rivals, worry.)

/// Some poor painters whom Reynolds allowed
in his workshop did not do him proud.
Any training they got
seems to have come to naught.
Pupils ought with some skill be endowed.