Philip Reinagle
Philip Reinagle (1749 – 27 November 1833) was an English painter of animals, landscapes, and botanical scenes. The son of a Hungarian musician living in Edinburgh, Reinagle came to London in 1763 and after serving an apprenticeship, later became a member of the Royal Academy.
Also recorded as Philip Renegals · Philip, Sen. Reinagle · Philip Renegale · Philip Reinagal
Philip Reinagle

Philip Reinagle · The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Robert Hays Gries · CC0
- Born
- 1749. · Edinburgh.
- Died
- 1833. · London.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Kingdom of Great Britain.
- Occupation
- painter.
- Fields
- portrait.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Philip Reinagle (1749 – 27 November 1833) was an English painter of animals, landscapes, and botanical scenes. The son of a Hungarian musician living in Edinburgh, Reinagle came to London in 1763 and after serving an apprenticeship, later became a member of the Royal Academy.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2086404 · wikipedia · Philip Reinagle
In this article
Biography
Biography
Robert Freebairn and Henry Howard are recorded as having studied under Philip Reinagle. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are London and Norwich. Residence is recorded at England. Positions recorded include court painter. Work by Philip Reinagle is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Städel Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Tate.
• Illustration — Col. Thornton Breaking Cover by Philip Reinagle Philip Reinagle entered the schools of the Royal Academy in 1769, and later became a pupil of Allan Ramsay, whom he assisted on his numerous portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1773. The works he showed were almost all portraits until 1785, when the monotonous work of producing replicas of royal portraits appears to have given him a distaste for portraiture, and led him to abandon it for animal painting. He became very successful in his treatment of sporting dogs, especially spaniels, of birds, and of dead game. In 1787, however, he showed a View taken from Brackendale Hill, Norfolk, at the academy and from then on exhibited works mostly landscapes. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1787, but did not become an academician until 1812, when he presented as his diploma picture An Eagle and a Vulture disputing with a Hyaena. He also exhibited frequently at the British Institution. Reinagle was also an accomplished copyist of the Dutch masters, and his reproductions of cattle-pieces and landscapes by Paulus Potter, Ruisdael, Hobbema, Berchem, Wouwerman, Adriaen van de Velde, Karel Dujardin, and others have often been passed off as originals. He also made some of the drawings for Robert John Thornton's New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus (1799–1807), and for his Philosophy of Botany (1809–10); but his best drawings for book illustration were those of dogs for William Taplin's Sportsman's Cabinet (1803) which were engraved by John Scott. • Illustration — Members of the Carrow Abbey Hunt, Philip Reinagle, 1780. Tate Britain Reinagle died at 5 York Place, Chelsea, London, on 27 November 1833, aged 84. A drawing by him, 'Fox-hunting the Death', is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Family
Family
In 1771 Reinagle married Jane Austin; they had nine daughters (Amelia Ann, Mary Ann, Jane, Charlotte Jenetta, Rachel Christiana, Frances Arabella, Caroline, Harriet, and Oriana Georgina), and two sons. Of the sons, Ramsay Richard Reinagle was also an artist, and followed his father's style. The other son, Philip, went to Trinidad where he held posts including Surveyor of Port of Spain. He was responsible for the design and construction of Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception there. Of the daughters: • Amelia Ann married William Henry Souper; Philip Dottin Souper was their son, as was Robert Souper Howard. • Mary Ann married Thomas Hayward Budd • Charlotte Jenetta married John White, in 1808 • Frances Arabella married to John Levett-Yeats, grandson of the English merchant and planter Francis Levett
Art copying business
Art copying business
Reinagle was known for his copying as were his daughters Charlotte Reinagle and Frances Arabella Reinagle. They had both exhibited their work at the Royal Academy and British Institution but in 1807 they decided to make money copying the work of great masters. Each year valuable paintings were lent to the British Institution and although the two of them were not allowed to recreate a complete painting they were allowed to paint details from the larger paintings. They worked rapidly as the objective was to make money. They claimed to have three day cycle where each painting was made on the first day, sold on the second and on the third they spent the profits. Their siblings Oriana Georgina, Harriet and Philip Reinagle the younger also exhibited works.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Philip Renegals, Philip, Sen. Reinagle, Philip Renegale, Philip Reinagal and Philip Rienagle. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Joseph Reinagle. 4 children are recorded: Amelia Reinagle, Mary Reinagle, Charlotte Reinagle and Ramsay Richard Reinagle.
Identity
Identity
Philip Reinagle is recorded as painter.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1749
Philip Reinagle born at Edinburgh.
1833
Philip Reinagle died at London.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
England.
Residences
Edinburgh.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2086404: Philip Reinagle
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Philip Reinagle”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Reinagle, Philip (1749–1833), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2018
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2018
authority file
- VIAF cluster 26991550 for Philip Reinagle, aggregating national library name authorities.
General reference · OCLC
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Graves, R. E. Reinagle, Philip (1749–1833), animal and landscape painter. Dictionary of National Biography Vol. IIL. Smith, Elder & Co. 1896.
- 2.Corley, T. A. B. Reinagle, Philip.
- 3.The Trinidad almanac and public register, for the year of our Lord, 1827. University of Florida. 18. 1827.
- 4.Stark's Guide & History of Tr inidad (PDF) at p. 45
- 5.St Helier baptisms - S - theislandwiki.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Institutional witnessauthority file
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q2086404: Philip ReinagleWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Formation and teaching. Each of those relationships is stated by the authority record rather than inferred from style. Recorded position is court painter. He belonged to Royal Academy of Arts. He worked at London, Norwich and England.
Career and activity
Recognition and collections
Work by Philip Reinagle is
National Gallery of Victoria, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Städel Museum and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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