Focus on The Academicians of the Royal Academy and discuss the Description.
The oil on canvas painting measures 101.1 cm × 147.5 cm (39.8 in × 58.1 in). It may have been commissioned by George III and it is held in the Royal Collection. It draws inspiration from Raphael's School of Athens, with the artist Joshua Reynolds and the anatomist William Hunter taking the roles of Plato and Aristotle in a new "School of London".
The painting depicts the academy's cluttered drawing room at Old Somerset House, demolished from 1775 – a working space not a show space, decorated with various paintings and casts of statues. A nude male life model has taken a pose on a platform to the right. A second male model is shown in the act of removing his clothes, in the pose of the Spinario sculpture. An hourglass times each pose, but also acts as a memento mori, that life is short but art is long ("Ars longa, vita brevis"). The main source of light is a large oil lamp hanging from the ceiling, creating deep shadows on the walls: its flames show the colours of a Newtonian spectrum. A table running round the edge of the room has individual shaded candleholders for each of the artists.
Spinario Raphael Somerset House Ars longa, vita brevis George III Aristotle William Hunter School of Athens Joshua Reynolds Plato memento mori Royal Collection life model spectrum hourglass