HumanitiesWeb.org - Anton Raphael Mengs [Chronology] [Chronology]
HumanitiesWeb HumanitiesWeb
WelcomeHistoryLiteratureArtMusicPhilosophyResourcesHelp
Periods Alphabetically Nationality Topics Themes Medium Glossary
pixel

Mengs
Index
Selected Works
Quotations
Suggested Reading
Other Resources
Chronology
Related Materials

Search

Get Your Degree!

Find schools and get information on the program that’s right for you.

Powered by Campus Explorer

& etc
FEEDBACK

(C)1998-2012
All Rights Reserved.

Site last updated
28 October, 2012
Real Time Analytics

Anton Raphael Mengs
(1728 - 1779)

1728

ST : Danish Navigator Vitus Bering explores the Bering Straits
LT : Alexander Pope: The Dunciad
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin : The Ray
PH : Treaty of Berlin between the Emperor Charles VI and Frederick William of Prussia
ED : Ephraim Chambers: Cyclopaedia, or An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
RP : William Law: A Serious Call to Devout and Holy Life
RP : Jonathan Swift: A Short View of the State of Ireland
ST : Dutch explorer Vitus Behring discovers Behring Strait
ST : James Bradley discovers aberration of light of fixed stars
DL : Madrid Lodge of Freemasons founded; soon suppressed by Inquisition
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs born 22 March

1729

PH : Cathrine II is born
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Suite No.3 in D (including 'Air on the G String')
VA : Charles-André van Loo : Aeneas Carrying Anchises
VA : François Le Moyne : Pygmalion Seeing His Statue Come to Life
PH : Treaty of Seville between France, Spain, and England
RP : Thomas Sherlock: A Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus
ED : Academia de buenas letras, Barcelona, founded
DL : The Emperor Yung Cheng prohibits opium smoking in China

1730

PH : Maratha government in India
M : François Couperin : Pièces de Clavecin Book IV
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Louis XV Hunting Stag in the Forest of Saint-Germain
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater : Young Girls Bathing
VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini : Allegory of Sculpture
VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini : Allegory of Painting
PH : Czar Peter of Russia dies; succeeded by Anne, daughter of Czar Ivan V
PH : Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia imprisoned by his father
PH : Sultan Ahmad XII of Turkey deposed; succeeded by Mahmoud I
PH : Frederick IV of Denmark dies; succeeded by Christian VI
PH : Ashraf, Shah of Persia, murdered
RP : Pope Benedict XIII dies; Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini becomes Pope Clement XII
RP : Mathew Tindal: Christianity as Old as the Creation
RP : John and Charles Wesley found Methodist sect at Oxford
ED : Martin Wright: Introduction to the Law of Tenures, on English land law
DL : Edinburgh Royal Infirmary founded
DL : Reduction of slavery in China under the Emperor Yung Cheng

1731

PH : The infamous Rebecca Incident near Havanna Cuba sets the stage for the War of Jenkin's Ear
LT : Alexander Pope: Moral Essays
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Magnificat in D Major
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin : A "Lean Diet" with Cooking Utensils
PH : Treaty of Vienna between England, Holland, Spain, and the Holy Roman Emperor
PH : Russia, Prussia, and the emperor agree to oppose Stanislas I in Poland
RP : Ralph Cudworth: Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality
RP : Mass expulsion of Protestants from Salzburg
ED : Voltaire: Histoire de Charles XII
ST : Dr John Arbuthnot: An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments, advocates dieting
DL : 10 Downing Street, Westminster, London residence of British prime ministers, built

1732

LT : Poor Richards Almanac first appears in print
VA : Giambattista Tiepolo : The Education
of the Virgin Mary
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : The Basin of San Marco
RP : Conrad Beissel founds Seventh Day Baptists (Ephrata Community) in Germantown, Pa
RP : George Berkeley: The Minute Philosopher
RP : The Moravian Brethren start missionary work
ED : J.J.Moser: Foundations of International Law
M : Academie of Ancient Music founded in London
M : Covent Garden Opera House, London, opened
M : J.G. Walther: Musik-Lexikon, first of its kind
ST : Hermann Boerhaave: Elements of Chemistry
DL : Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard's Almanack issued
M : Joseph Haydn born 1 April
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard born 5 April

1733

VA : Giambattista Tiepolo : The Banquet of Cleopatra
PH : The War of the Polish Succession
LT : Alexander Pope: Imitations of Horace
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater : The Fair at Bezons
VA : Jean-François de Troy : Allegory of Music
PH : War of Polish Succession begins
PH : France declares war against Emperor Charles VI
RP : Alexander Pope: Essay on Man
DL : Latin language abolished in English courts
DL : The Serpentine, Hyde Park, laid out
VA : Hubert Robert born 22 May
M : François Couperin dies 12 September

1734

VA : Giambattista Tiepolo : The Triumph of
Zephyr and Flora
LT : Alexander Pope: Essay on Man
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Coffeehouse Canatas
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Christmas Oratorio
PH : War breaks out between Turkey and Persia
PH : Anglo-Russian trade agreement
RP : Mme de Lambert, in her Avis d'une Mère à sa Fille, recommends university education for women
ED : University of Göttingen founded by King George I
RP : The Koran translated into English by George Sale
VA : Sir James Thornhill dies 13 May
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby born 3 September
VA : George Romney born 15 December

1735

VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : Piazza San Marco
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Italian Concerto
VA : Jean-François de Troy : The Lunch of Oysters
PH : End of the Turko-Persian war
M : Imperial ballet school at St. Petersburg
ST : Linnaeus: Systema naturae
ST : French scientist Benoît de Maillet: Telliamed, evolutionary hypothesis
DL : The Boston Evening Post issued
DL : Royal Burgess Golfing Society, Edinburgh, founded

1736

PH : Russia and Austria at war with Turkey (ends 1739)
PH : Chi'en Lung becomes Emperor of China
VA : William Hogarth : The Pool of Bethesda
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater : The Chinese Hunt
PH : Stanislas I abdicates as King of Poland
PH : Theodor von Neuhof elected King of Corsica
PH : Chi-en Lung becomes Emperor of China
PH : War between Russia and Turkey
RP : Joseph Butler: Analogy of Religion
RP : English statutes against witchcraft repealed
RP : Pope Clement XII condemns Freemasonry
RP : William Warburton: The Alliance between Church and State
DL : Manufacture of glass begins in Venice at Murano
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater dies 25 July

1737

M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Berenice including famous 'Minuet'
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : The Triumph of Venice
VA : Charles-André van Loo : The Grand Turk Giving a
Concert to his Mistress
VA : Charles-André van Loo : Halt During the Hunt
VA : François Le Moyne : Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy
VA : Jean-François de Troy : A Hunting Meal
PH : Last of the Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, dies; Francis, Duke of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, receives Tuscany; Stanislas of Poland acquires Lorraine
LT : Licensing Act restricts number of London theatres, and all plays before public performance to be subjected to censorship of Lord Chamberlain
LT : Ignacio de Luzán Claramunt de Suelves y Gurrea: Poética, laying down classic rules in Spanish literary composition
RP : Alexander Cruden: Concordance of the Holy Scripture
RP : Vincent de Paul canonised by Pope Clement XII
RP : Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: The Nonsense of Common Sense
ED : William Oldys: The British Librarian
RP : John Wesley: Psalms and Hymns, published in Charleston
ST : René de Réaumur: History of the Insects
VA : François Le Moyne dies 4 June

1738

VA : William Hogarth : Lord Hervey and his friends
PH : Treaty of Vienna Closes the War of Polish Succession between France and Austria. Lorraine guaranteed to France
M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Serse (Xerxes), including 'Largo'
VA : Nicolas Lancret : The Marriage Contract
VA : Nicolas Lancret : Summer
VA : Nicolas Lancret : Winter
DL : Papal bull "In eminenti" against Freemasonry
ED : Lodovico Antonnio Muratori: Antiquites Italicae
ST : Daniel Bernoilli: Hydrodynamica, pressure and velocity of fluids
DL : First cuckoo clocks in Black Forest district
VA : Benjamin West born 10 October

1739

RP : The Methodist Church founded by John Wesley
PH : War of Jenkins Ear begins
PH : Nadir Shah sacks Delhi
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Saul including 'Dead March'
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Israel in Egypt
VA : François Boucher : Morning Coffee
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Louis, Grand Dauphin of France
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Louis Tocque
PH : Sack of Delhi by Persians under Nadir Shah
RP : Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia: Anti-Machiavell, against Machiavelli's philosophy of monarchy
RP : David Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature
RP : Moravian Church founded in America by Spengenberg
ST : American astronomer John Winthrop published his Notes on Sunspots
DL : Foundling Hospital established in London

1740

VA : William Hogarth : The Shrimp Girl
PH : War of the Austrian Succession
VA : François Boucher : The Toilet of Venus
M : George Frideric Handel : 12 Concerti Grossi
M : Tomaso Albinoni : 6 Violin Sonatas
VA : William Hogarth : Captain Coram
VA : Giovanni Batista Piazetta : A Boy Holding a Pear
VA : Giovanni Batista Piazetta : The Soothsayer
VA : Louis Tocqué : Marie Leczinska, Queen of France
PH : Frederick William I of Prussia dies; succeeded by his son Frederick II, the Great
PH : Charles VI dies; succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresa
PH : Anne, daughter of Peter the Great dies; succeeded by Czar Ivan VI
RP : Pope Clement XII dies; succeeded by Cardinal Prospero Lambertini as Pope Benedict XIV
ST : Louis Castel: Optique des colours
ED : University of Pennsylvania founded
ED : Berlin Academy of Science founded by Frederick the Great
DL : Frederick the Great introduces freedom of press and freedom of worship in Prussia
DL : Smallpox epidemic in Berlin
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Portrait of a Boy with a Book
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : Bacchanal
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : The Rape of Europa

1741

VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini dies
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Messiah
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Goldberg Variations
VA : François Boucher : Leda & the Swan
PH : Maria Theresa accepts crown of Hungary
PH : Czar Ivan VI deposed and imprisoned; Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, becomes Czarina
LT : Thomas Betterton: A History of the English Stage
LT : Founding of Burgtheater, Vienna
RP : Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, sermon delivered at Enfield, Mass.
RP : David Hume: Essays, Moral and Political
ST : Botanical Garden, Upsala, founded by Linnaeus
DL : Highway Act in England to improve roads
ED : Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England, opened
VA : Henry Fuseli born 7 February
M : Antonio Vivaldi dies 28 July

1742

PH : Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, elected and crowned emperor as Charles VII
PH : Peace of Berlin ends First Silesian War
RP : Etienne Fourmont: Grammatica Sinaica
ED : Charles Viner: Legal Encyclopaedia
ST : Swiss astronomer Anders Celsius invents centigrade thermometer
M : C.P.E. Bach : Prussian Sonatas
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Well-Tempered Clavier, second book
VA : William Hogarth : The Graham Children
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Marie Adelaide of France as Flora

1743

VA : William Hogarth : Characters and Caricaturas
PH : Maria Theresa crowned at Prague
PH : Alliance between Austria and Saxony
RP : Pogroms in Russia
ST : French geographer Jean d'Anville "Map of Italy"
ED : University of Erlangen, Germany, founded
M : Luigi Boccherini born 19 February
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes dies 20 April
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld born 20 June
VA : Nicolas Lancret dies 14 September

1744

PH : King George's War (ends 1748) American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession    GO !
M : C.P.E. Bach : Württemberg Sonatas
M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Semele
VA : Pietro Longhi : The Display of the Elephant
PH : France declares war on England and on Maria Theresa
PH : Second Silesian War begins
RP : George Berkeley: A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries
RP : Ruling Arab family Sa-Udi adopts teachings of Abd-al-Wahhab, becomes Wahhabi
M : Madrigal Society, London, founded
ST : Jean d'Alembert: Traité de l'équilibre et du mouvement des fluides
LT : Alexander Pope dies 21 May

1745

PH : Jacobite Rebellion
VA : François Boucher : Diana's
Return from the Hunt
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : Achilles at the
Court of Lycomedes
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Louis XV of France
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Marie Adelaide of France as Diana
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Swan Attacked by a Dog
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : A Girl with a Kitten
PH : Emperor Charles VII dies; Francis, husband of Maria Theresa, elected Holy Roman Emperor, first of the Lorraine-Tuscany line
PH : Peace of Dresden: Prussia recognises Pragmatic Sanction but retains Silesia
PH : Ishege becomes Shogun of Japan
RP : Philip Doddridge: The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul
ST : Charles Bonnet: Traité d'insectologie
ST : Ewald Jurgen von Kleist invents the capacitor (Leydon Jar), a fundamental electrical circuit element
DL : Earliest Oddfellows Lodge in England
M : The quadrille becomes a fashionable dance in France

1746

PH : Alliance between Russia and Austria against Prussia
PH : Philip V of Spain dies; succeeded by Ferdinand VI
PH : Christian VI of Denmark dies; succeeded by Frederick V
RP : Denis Diderot: Pensées philosophiques
RP : Jonathan Edwards: A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections
ST : Jean-Etienne Guettard draws first geological map of France
ED : College of New Jersey founded; becomes Princeton University, 1896
DL : Wearing of tartans prohibited in Great Britain
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Cornard Wood
VA : Pietro Longhi : The Tooth Puller
VA : Francisco José de Goya Y Lucientes born 30 March

1747

VA : Bernardo Bellotto : View of Verona and the River Adige from the Ponte Nuovo
PH : Nadir Shah is assasinated
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Musical Offering
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : Westminster Bridge, London,
VA : Charles-André van Loo : Drunken Silenus
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Portrait of Gabriel Huquier, engraver
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of a Man
PH : William IV of Orange-Nassau becomes hereditary stadholder of the seven provinces of the Netherlands
PH : Prusso-Swedish alliance for mutual defence
PH : Nadir Shah murdered; Ahmed Shah becomes King of Afghanistan
ED : Biblioteca Nazionale founded in Florence, Italy
ED : Biographia Britannica
LT : Benjamin Franklin: Plain Truth
ST : Sugar discovered in beetroot
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck born 2 July

1748

VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : Warwick Castle
VA : William Hogarth : The Gate of Calais
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Madame
Maria Leszczynska
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Maurice, Comte de Saxe, Marshal of France
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : View of Naples
PH : Shah Rukh, grandson of Nadir Shah, ruler of Persia
LT : Marie-Thérese Geoffin opens salon as meeting place for Parisian men of letters
RP : Archibald Bower: History of the Popes
RP : David Hume: Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding
M : Holywell Music room, Oxford, opened
ST : Leonhard Euler: Analysis Infinitorum, on pure analytical mathematics
ST : English physician John Fothergill describes diphtheria
ST : Thomas Lowndes founds chair of astronomy at Cambridge
DL : Abolition of hereditary jurisdiction in Scotland
VA : Jacques-Louis David born 30 August
PH : 18 October - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends King George's War, restoring the status quo ante in the colonies; general recognition of Pragmatic Sanction and of Francis I as Holy Roman Emperor

1749

M : C.P.E. Bach : Magnificat
M : George Frideric Handel : Instrumental, Music for the Royal Fireworks
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Solomon including 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Art of the Fugue (unfinished)
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Mass in B Minor
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : London- Westminster Abbey
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Madame de Sorquainville
PH : Consolidation Act of British navy
RP : Denis Diderot: Lettre sur les aveugles à l'usage de ceux qui voient
RP : David Hartley: Observations on Man
DL : François Philidor: Analyse des échecs, a study of chess, written by the famous composer
ED : Philadelphia Academy founded, becomes University of Pennsylvania, 1791
VA : Alessandro Magnasco dies
LT : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe born 28 August

1750

RP : The Jewish sect of Hasidism is founded by Baal Shem Tov
PH : The Capital of the Maratha confederacy in India becomes Poona
VA : The neoclassical art movement begins in Europe
M : The Waltz becomes a popular dance form in Europe
M : C.P.E. Bach : Concerto in Bb for flute
VA : François Boucher : The Interrupted Sleep
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Mr. and Mrs. Andrews
VA : William Hogarth : The Artist's Servants
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : The Duchess of Parma
and her daughter Isabelle
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Farmhouse
ED : Portuguese Giacobbo Rodriguez Pereire invents sign language for deaf-mutes
PH : John V of Portugal dies; succeeded by José I
LT : First playhouse opens in New York
ED : Dictionnaire de l'art de vérifier les dates des faits historiques ed. by the Benedictine monks of St.Maur
RP : King Frederick the Great: Oeuvres du Philosophe de Sanssouci
RP : Baal Shem founds Jewish sect of Chassidim in Carpathian mountain region
VA : Neoclassicism, as reaction against baroque and rococo, spreading over Europe
M : Johann Breitkopf, Leipzig music publisher, uses movable type for printing music
ST : French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille leads expedition to Cape of Good Hope to determine solar and lunar parallax
ST : Johann Tobias Mayer: "Map of the Moon"
DL : First Westminster Bridge, London, finished
M : Johann Sebastian Bach dies 28 July
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Mademoiselle de Coislin

1751

LT : Diderots' first volume of the Encyclopeie is published
ST : The Lightening conductor is invented by Benjamin Franklin
VA : Pietro Longhi : The Rhinoceros
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Self-Portrait, 1751
VA : Richard Wilson : Portrait of Francesco Zuccarelli
PH : Frederick II of Sweden dies; succeeded by his brother-in-law, Adolphus Frederick
PH : William IV of Holland dies; his widow, Anne, daughter of George II of England, becomes regent
PH : China invades Tibet
ED : French Encyclopédie published
RP : David Hume: Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
RP : Powers of Portuguese Inquisition curtailed by government
ST : Linnaeus: Philosophia Botanica
M : Francesco Geminiani: The Art of Playing on the Violin
M : The minuet becomes Europe's fashionable dance
M : "War of the Operas" divides Paris into pro-Italian and pro-French music lovers
ED : Ecole supérieure de guerre, Paris, founded
ED : Göttinger wissenschaftliche Akademie founded
DL : British calendar altered by Act of Parliament: 1 January henceforth to be beginning of New Year
DL : First mental asylums in London
M : Tomaso Albinoni dies 17 January

1752

PH : Treaty of Aranjuez between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire
DL : Great Britain adopts Gregorian calendar on Sept 14
RP : Jonathan Edwards: Misrepresentations Corrected and Truth Vindicated
RP : David Hume: Political Discourses
RP : William Law: The Way to Divine Knowledge
M : Charles Avison : Essay on Musical Expression
PH : Chinese invade and conquer Tibet
VA : Charles-Antoine Coypel dies
VA : Pietro Longhi : Theatrical Scene
VA : Jean-François de Troy dies 26 January
M : Johann Friedrich Reichardt born 25 December

1753

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : John Plampin
ST : Swedish biologist Carolus Linnaeus publishes his system of plant classification
VA : The founding of the British Museum
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Mlle Ferrand Meditating on Newton
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Oudry
RP : Robert Lowth: De sacra poesi Hebraeorum
RP : English Act of Parliament permits naturalisation of Jews
ED : British Museum, London, granted royal foundation charter
ST : Linnaeus: Species Plantorum
DL : British Marriage Act forbids weddings by unauthorised persons
DL : Vienna Stock Exchange founded

1754

PH : The Seven Years (French and Indian) War unofficially begins
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : Storm with a Shipwreck
RP : Jonathan Edwards: Inquiry into Freedom of the Will
ED : David Hume: History of Great Britain
RP : Rousseau: L'Inégalité par les hommes: discours
RP : John Woolman: Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes
DL : Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures founded in England
ED : King's College, New York, founded; becomes Columbia University, 1784
ED : First female M.D. (University of Halle, Germany)
VA : Giovanni Batista Piazetta dies 28 April

1755

PH : The French and Indian War officially begins in America    GO !
LT : The Dictionary of the English Language is published by Samuel Johnson
VA : Corrado Giaquinto : Saints in Glory
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs : Semiramis Receives the
Message of the Babylonion Revolt
VA : Allan Ramsay : Portrait of the Artist's Wife
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour
PH : Landgrave of Hesse sells mercenaries to England for defence of Hanover
PH : End of Anglo-Aust. alliance
ED : Samuel Johnson : Dictionary of the English Language
RP : Benjamin Franklin: Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of countries
RP : Francis Hutchson: A System of Moral Philosophy
RP : Immanuel Kant's doctoral thesis: The True Measure of Forces
RP : J.J. Winckelmann: Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke
ED : University of Moscow founded
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry dies 30 April

1756

VA : Bernardo Bellotto : Courtyard of the Castle
at Köningstein from the South
PH : The Black Hole of Calcutta, 123 British soldiers are alledged to have died there
PH : Treaty of Westminster; alliance between Britain and Prussia
PH : Treaty of Versailles; alliance between France and Austria
PH : British Rule India
VA : François Boucher : The Marquise
de Pompadour
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : Die Vermählung
Amors mit Psyche
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : The Town and Harbour of Toulon
PH : Anglo-Prussian Treaty of Westminster
PH : Britain declares war on France - Seven Year's War
PH : 120 British soldiers imprisoned and die in India ("Black Hole of Calcutta")
LT : Russian royal Court Theatre founded at St. Petersburg
ED : Thomas Birch: History of the Royal Society of London
RP : Edmund Burke: Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
RP : Alban Butler: Lives of the Saints, vol.1
RP : Arthur Collins: The Peerage of England finished
RP : Mirabeau: Ami des hommes ou traité de la population
ED : Voltaire finished his Siècle de Louis XIV
DL : First chocolate factory in Germany
DL : Porcelain factory founded at Sèvres
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born 27 January
VA : Sir Henry Raeburn born 4 March

1757

VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Ekaterina Golovkina
RP : Denis Diderot: Entretiens sur le fils natural
RP : Richard Price: Review of the Principal Questions in Morals
ED : Royal Library, London, transferred to British Museum
DL : The London Chronicle appears
M : Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz dies 27 March
M : Domenico Scarlatti dies 23 July
VA : William Blake born 28 November

1758

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : The Painter's Daughters
VA : Giovanni Battista Pittoni : Annunciation
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
DL : Samuel Johnson: The Idler, weekly periodical
RP : Pope Benedict XIV dies; succeeded by Carlo della Torre Rezzonico as Pope Clement XIII
RP : Emerich de Vattel: Le Droit des gens
RP : Claude Adrien Helvétius: De l'esprit
ED : Serjeant's Inn (London Court) formed
M : First English manual on guitar playing published
VA : Pierre-Paul Prud'hon born 4 April

1759

VA : Corrado Giaquinto : Justice and Peace
VA : Bernardo Bellotto : View of Vienna from the Belvedere
LT : Candide written by Voltaire
DL : The Botanical Gardens founded at Kew in London
PH : Cherokee War against the English begins
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of a Lady as a Vestal Virgin
PH : King Ferdinand VI of Spain dies; succeeded by Charles II
RP : Alexander Gerard: An Essay on Taste
ED : Oliver Goldshmith: An Enquiry Into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe
RP : Expulsion of Jesuits from Portugal
RP : Adam Smith: Theory of Moral Sentiments
VA : William Chambers: Treatise on Civil Architecture
ST : Franz Aepinus: Testamen theoriae electricitatis et magnetesmi
ED : Bavarian Academy of Science founded
ED : British Museum opened (at Montagu House)
DL : The Publish Ledger, London daily paper, appears
M : George Frideric Handel dies 14 April

1760

PH : George III becomes King of England
PH : Catherine II, The Great becomes ruler of Russia
PH : King George II of England dies; succeeded by his grandson George III
LT : James Macpherson: Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands, famous literary fraud
VA : First exhibition of contemporary art at Royal Society of Arts, London
M : Noverre, ballet master at Stuttgart, publishes his Letter on Dancing and Ballets
ED : First British school for deaf and dumb opened by Thomas Braidwood, Edinburgh
DL : Josiah Wedgewood founds pottery works at Etrurua, Staffordshire
ST : Botanical Gardens in Kew, London, opened
DL : Rules of whist laid down by Edmund Hoyle
M : C.P.E. Bach : Sonatas with Varied Repeats
VA : George Stubbs : Mares and Foals in a Landscape
VA : Richard Wilson : Solitude
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : Mountain Landscape with Washerwomen and Fisherman

1761

M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Ballet, Don Juan
M : Joseph Haydn : Symphonies No.6, No.7 and No.8 ('Morning', 'Midday' and 'Evening')
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Laundress
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Village Betrothal
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : Diana & Cupid
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs : Parnassus
VA : Allan Ramsay : Mrs. Martin
PH : Ieharu, the new Shogun of Japan
LT : Benjamin Victor: History of the Theatres of London and Dublin
RP : Henry Home: An Introduction to the Art of Thinking
ST : Russian scientist and poet Mikhail V. Lomonosov discovers the atmosphere of Venus
ST : B.G. Morgagni: On the Causes of Diseases, beginning of pathological anatomy
ST : Johann Peter Süssmilch initiates study of statistics
ED : First French veterinary school founded at Lyons
ST : Society of Arts, London, opens first exhibition of agricultural machines

1762

VA : Allan Ramsay : Queen Charlotte
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Orfeo ed Euridice
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : William Pointz
VA : George Stubbs : Whistlejacket
VA : Richard Wilson : Lake Albano
PH : Czarina Elizabeth of Russia dies; succeeded by Peter III, who dies by assassination; succeeded by Catherine II
PH : Treaty of Hamburg between Sweden and Prussia
PH : Russo-Prussian alliance against Austria signed
PH : Truce between Prussia, Saxony, and the Holy Roman Empire
ED : Robert Lowth: Introduction to English Grammar
RP : George Campbell: Dissertation on Miracles
ED : John Parkhurst: Hebrew and English Lexicon
RP : Rousseau: Du Contrat social, ou principes du droit politique
ED : Sorbonne Library, Paris, opened
VA : Stuart and Revett: Classical Antiquities of Athens, Vol I
M : Benjamin Franklin improves the harmonica, turning it into a practical musical instrument
ST : At Carron ironworks in Stirlingshire, Scotland, cast iron converted for the first time into malleable iron

1763

PH : The Seven Years war ends with the Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg    GO !
PH : Augustus III dies; he is succeeded (1764) by Stanislaw II, the last king of Poland
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : Filial Piety
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Still-life with Pheasant
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : The Cupid Seller
RP : Voltaire: Treatise on Tolerance
ED : Frederick the Great establishes village schools in Prussia

1764

VA : German historian Johann Winckelmann publishes his History of the Art of Antiquity
M : Joseph Haydn : Symphony No.22, 'The Philosopher'
PH : Pontiac's Rebellion in Ohio valley
PH : Stanislas Poniatowski elected King of Poland
PH : Hyder Ali usurps throne of Mysore
RP : Confiscation of Church lands in Russia
PH : Deposed Czar Ivan VI murdered in prison
RP : Jesuits suppressed in France
LT : The Literary Club founded in London by Dr. Johnson, with Burke, Gibbon, Goldsmith, Reynolds, etc.
LT : Literary salons founded in Paris by Mme. Necker and Mlle. de Lespinasse
RP : Cesare Beccaria-Conesana: On Crimes and Punishments
RP : Charles Bonnet: Contemplation de la nature
ED : Brown University, Providence, R.I. founded
RP : Voltaire: Philosophical Dictionary
VA : J.J. Winckelmann: History of Ancient Art
ST : James Watt invents condenser, first step toward steam engine
DL : London introduces practice of numbering houses
PH : April - Sugar Act passed by Parliament to offset expenses of the French and Indian War
M : Johann Mattheson dies 17 April
PH : July - James Otis publishes The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved
VA : William Hogarth dies 26 October

1765

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Studies of a Cat
PH : Joseph II becomes the Holy Roman Emperor
VA : Corrado Giaquinto dies
VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds : Lady Sarah Bunbury
Sacrificing to the Graces
VA : Bernardo Bellotto : The Ruins of the Old
Kreuzkirche in Dresden
PH : British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American colonies    GO !
PH : Emperor Francis I, Maria Theresa's husband dies; their son Joseph II succeeds as Holy Roman Emperor, becomes co-regent with his mother
RP : A.R.J. Turgot: Refléxions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses
ST : Spallanzani suggests preserving by means of hermetic sealing
DL : Bank of Prussia founded by Frederick the Great
VA : Charles-André van Loo dies 15 July

1766

ST : The Nautical Almanac provides the first practical method for determining longitude
M : C.P.E. Bach : Six Easy Keyboard Sonatas
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Swing
VA : Allan Ramsay : Portrait of David Hume
PH : Repeal of Stamp Act, but Declaratory Act states Britain's right to tax American colonies    GO !
PH : Frederick V of Denmark dies; succeeded by the mad Christian VII
LT : Theatre Royal, Bristol, opens, oldest British theatre still in use
RP : Czarina Catherine the Great grants freedom of worship in Russia
ED : Adam Ferguson: Essay on the History of Civil Society
VA : Lessing: Laokoon, against Winckelmann's theories
ST : Louis de Bougainville sets out on voyage to Pacific on which he discovers Tahiti, the Soloman Islands, and New Guinea
DL : First paved sidewalk laid in Westminster, London
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier dies 7 November

1767

PH : Russian-Turkish War
VA : Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson born
VA : Giovanni Battista Pittoni dies
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Alceste
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : Academie
PH : Townshend Duties: taxes on imports of tea, glass, paper, and dyestuffs in American colonies; non-importation agreement at public protest meeting in Boston    GO !
PH : First Mysore War
RP : Jesuits expelled from Spain, Parma, and the Two Sicilies
RP : Moses Mendelssohn: Phaedon, or the Immortality of Soul
VA : J.J. Winckelmann: Monumenti antichi inediti
M : Rousseau: Dictionnaire de musique
ST : Astronomer Royal, Nevill Maskelyne issues Nautical Almanac
ED : Maria Theresa and Joseph II introduce educational reforms in Austria
ST : Joseph Priestley: The History and Present State of Electricity
DL : Electrical machine with glass pane becomes a fashionable toy

1768

DL : The first modern Circus is formed in England by Philip Astley
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : Experiment with the Air-Pump
PH : Ali Bey, leader of the Mamelukes, Sultan of Egypt
PH : Gurkhas conquer Nepal
RP : Abraham Booth: Reign of Grace
RP : Joseph Priestley: Essay on the First Principles of Government
RP : Swedenborg: Delititiae sapientiae
VA : Founding of the Royal Academy, London, with Joshua Reynolds as president
ST : James Cook sails on first circumnavigation
DL : New criminal code, on humanist principles, introduced in Austria
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal dies 20 April
VA : John Crome born 22 December

1769

M : Joseph Haydn : Symphony No.48, 'Maria Theresa'
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : Inspiration
DL : Privy council in London decides to retain tea duty in American colonies
RP : Charles Bonnet: Palingénésie philosophique
RP : Pope Clement XIII dies; Lorenzo Ganganelli becomes Pope Clement XIV
RP : Johann Gottfried von Herder: Kritische Wälder
ST : N.J. Cugnot constructs first steam road carriage
DL : The Morning Chronicle issued in London
DL : Johann Friedrich Oberlin opens first crêche at Steintal, Alsace

1770

DL : Louis, the future king of France, marries Marie Antoinette
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Paride ed Elena
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Portrait of Jonathan Buttall
VA : George Stubbs : A Horse Frightened by a Lion
VA : Benjamin West : Self Portrait
VA : Benjamin West : The Death of General Wolfe
RP : Edmund Burke: Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents
RP : Kant: De mundi sensibilie et intelligibilis forma et principiis
ST : James cook discovers Botany Bay, Australia
ED : Elementary school education reformed in Austria
ST : English "Quack" John Hill introduces method of obtaining specimens for microscopic study
ST : Leonhard Euler: Introduction to Algebra
DL : First public restaurant opens in Paris
DL : Visiting cards introduced in England
VA : Giambattista Tiepolo dies 27 March
LT : William Wordsworth born 7 April
VA : Baron François Gérard born 4 May
VA : François Boucher dies 30 May
M : Ludwig van Beethoven born 17 December
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Love Letter
VA : Hubert Robert : The Burning of the Hötel-Dieu during the Night of 29-30 December 1772

1771

VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Meeting
PH : Gustav III succeeds his father as king of Sweden
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin : Self Portrait at the Easel
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : Clair de lune
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : The Alchemist in Search of the Philosophers Stone
PH : Adolphus Frederick of Sweden dies; succeeded by Gustavus III
ED : Encyclopaedia Britannica, first edition
RP : John William Fletcher: Five Checks to Antinomianism
ED : William Robertson: History of America
VA : Horace Walpole: Anecdotes of Painting
ST : Luigi Galvani discovers electrical nature of nervous impulse
ST : The Smeatonian Club for engineers founded in London
DL : The Assembly room, Bath, England, opened
DL : New York Hospital founded
VA : Baron Antoine-Jean Gros born 16 March
LT : Sir Walter Scott born 15 August

1772

VA : Louis Tocqué dies
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Poems
M : Joseph Haydn : Symphony No.45, 'Farewell'
PH : Boston Assembly demands rights of colonies, threatens secession
DL : Royal Marriage Act in Britain to prevent undesirable royal marriages
PH : First Partition of Poland
LT : The Göttinger Hainbund, society of young patriotic German poets, formed
ED : Herder: On the Origin of Speech, on comparative philology
RP : Inquisition abolished in France
RP : Mirabeau: Essai sur le despotisme
RP : F.S. Sullivan, Irish jurist: Lectures on the Feudal Law and the Constitution and Laws of England
M : Flight and Kelly, London firm of organ builders, produces first barrel organs
ST : Leonhard Eurler: Lettres à une princesse d'Allemagne, on mechanics, optics, acoustics, and astronomy
ST : Daniel Rutherford and Joseph Priestley independently discover nitrogen
DL : Judge William Murray decides in the Somerset case that a slave is free on landing in England
LT : Samuel Taylor Coleridge born 21 October

1773

LT : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Götz von Berlichingen
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Exsultate, Jubilate ('Exult, Rejoice') for soprano and orchestra.
VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds : Ladies Adorning
a Term of Hymen
VA : Hubert Robert : Landscape with an Arch and The Dome of St Peter's in Rome
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : Young Greek Maidens Deck Sleeping Cupid With Flowers
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : Lover Crowning His Mistress
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : The Iron Forge Viewed from Without
LT : Swedish national theatre established in Stockholm
RP : Pope Clement XIV dissolves Jesuit Order
RP : John Eerskine: Institutes of the Law in Scotland
RP : Joseph II expels Jesuits from the Empire
M : Charles Burney: The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Provinces
M : The waltz becomes fashionable in Vienna
ED : Philadelphia Museum founded
DL : 10 May - British East India Company Regulating Act
DL : 29-30 November - Boston Tea Party: protest against tea duty

1774

PH : Louis XVI becomes King of France
LT : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sorrows of Werther
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Iphigénie en Aulide
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.29
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : Landscape with the Education of Bacchus
PH : Quebec Act, to secure Canada's loyalty to Great Britain, established Roman Catholicism in Canada
PH : Louis XV, King of France, dies; succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI
PH : First Continental Congress meets    GO !
PH : Accession of Abdul Hamid I as Sultan of Turkey
LT : Lord Chesterfield: Letters to His Son, on how a gentleman should behave
RP : John Campbell: A Political Survey of Great Britain
RP : John Cartwright: American Independence, the Glory and Interest of great Britain
RP : Jesuits expelled from Poland
RP : Anne Lee of Massachusetts settles in New York to begin a spiritualist revival
ST : Aust. physician F.A. Mesmer uses hypnosis for health purposes
ED : Swiss educator Johan Heinrich Pestalozzi founds school for orphaned and neglected children in Zurich to enable them to lead productive lives
VA : Caspar David Friedrich born 5 September

1775

LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Devotional Pieces
VA : Gavin Hamilton : Priam Pleading with Achilles
for the Body of Hector
PH : Peasant's revolts in Bohemia against servitude
PH : American Revolution begins    GO !
RP : Cardinal Gianangelo Braschi elected in Feb as Pope Pius VI after a long conclave
RP : Justus Moser: Patriotische Phantasien, plea for one organic Germany
ST : Digitalis used for first time as a diuretic in dropsy
ST : J.C. Fabricius: Systema entomolgiae, classification of insects
ST : Pierre-Simon Girard invents water turbine
ST : James Watt perfects his invention of the Steam engine
DL : First British banks' clearinghouse established in Lombard Street, London
DL : First Thames Regatta
VA : Joseph Mallord William Turner born 23 April

1776

VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : A Young Girl Reading
PH : Treaty of Copenhagen between Russia and Denmark
RP : John Cartwright: Take your Choice, on parliamentary reform
ED : Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
RP : Richard Price:Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and Policy of the War with America
RP : Adam Smith: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
M : Charles Burney: History of Music
M : Concerts of Ancient Music, London
DL : U.S. Congress institutes a national lottery
DL : Military ski competitions in Norway
VA : Corrado Giaquinto dies
M : Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann born 24 January
VA : John Constable born 11 June
PH : 4 July - Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence    GO !

1777

RP : Christianity introduced in Korea
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Armide
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Paternal Curse
LT : Court and National Theatre, Mannheim, founded
RP : Joseph Priestley: Disquisition Relating to Matter and Spirit
ST : American engineer David Bushnell invents torpedo
ST : Lavoisier proves that air consists mainly of oxygen and nitrogen
DL : Stars and Stripes adopted as Continental Congress flag
M : Heinrich Heine born 13 December

1778

PH : War of Bavarian Succession
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Lessons for Children of Two to Three Years Old and Lessons for Children of Three Years Old
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Iphigénie en Tauride
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : Portrait of Count
Stroganov as a Child
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Wicked
Son Punished
VA : Benjamin West : Romeo and Juliet
PH : American colonies sign treaties with France and Holland    GO !
RP : G.L.L. Buffon: Epoques de la Nature
RP : J.A. Deluc: Lettres physiques et morals sur les montagnes
M : La Scala, Milan, opened
ST : James cook discovers Hawaii
DL : Act of Congress prohibits import of slaves into the U.S.
VA : Giovanni Battista Piranesi dies 9 November

1779

M : C.P.E. Bach : Heilig for two choruses
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Sinfonia Concertante
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : Firework Display at the Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome
PH : Spain declares war on Britian
PH : British war against Mahrattas in India
LT : Samuel Johnson: Lives of the Poets
RP : David Hume: Dialogues of Natural Religion (posth.)
ST : James Rennel: "Bengal Atlas"
DL : First children's clinic, London
DL : The Derby established at Epson racetrack, Surrey, England
DL : Pope Pius VI begins draining Pontine Marshes
DL : First 'velocipedes' appear in Paris
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs dies 29 June
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin dies 6 December
Personae

Terms Defined

Referenced Works