Thomas Gainsborough was born in 1727 in Sudbury, in the County of Suffolk, England. His mother was an accomplished flower painter. Gainsborough made little progress at grammer school, where he spent most of his time sketching. At the age of fifteen he was sent to London where he studied under the French engraver Gravelot. A few years later at Gravelot's instigation he was admitted into the Martin Lane Academy where he studied under the historical painter Francis Hayman.

In 1745 he returned to Sudbury and Ipswich, and in 1760 rose to fame as a portrait painter in the fashionable resort town of Bath. Gainsborough joined the Royal Academy as a founding member and in 1774 he returned to London, where he became Reynold's major competitor....