ion of the cult of informality and recreation among the upper classes in eighteenth-century England. Bartholomew Dandrige (1691-1754), Joseph Highmore (1692-1780), William Hogarth (1697-1764), Gavin Hamilton (1698-1737), Francis Hayman (1708-1776) and Arthur Devis (1711-1787) were the leading native artists to take up the conversation piece in its formative stage. Dandrige is the most purely rococo; Hamilton tends to follow the realistic lead of Hogarth, who, after 1732 rarely uses in his conversations imaginary baroque accessories. Gavin Hamilton’s “A Conversation of Virtuosi” is a notable example of the serious type. As befits a circle of conoisseurs, the scene is framed by imaginary drapery at one side, and the group is posed as a tableau. The group of “Virtuosis” shows, from left to right: Vertue, the engraver and antiquary; Huysing and Dahl, the “Old Masters” of portraiture; William Thomas, Gentleman and conoisseur; James Gibbs, the architect; Matthew Robinson, gentleman and amateur painter; immediately above him, Joseph Goupy, history painter and later art adviser to Frederick, Prince of Wales; Charles Bridgeman, principal gardener to George I; Bernard Baron, reproductive engraver; Wootton, the landscape painter; Rysbrack, the favourit sculptor of the Burlington circle; Gavin Hamilton and William Kent. The artist has shown the most subtle attention to personal relationships and professional importance. Gibbs looks towards Vertue and next to Huysing is Dahl, whose widow’s will he later witnessed. All four in this group within a group were Roman Catholics. Wootton and Rysbrack figure in the same set as Kent, who imitated landscape painting in his gardens and collaborated with the sculptor. The last group in Hamilton’s painting appropriately introduces the third category of landscape painting, for Wootton is linked with Bridge...
