Mrs Peter Beckford; 1782 is a good representation of Reynolds' Royal Academy pictures in the 1780's exhibitions. Louisa Beckford, makes an offering to the Greek goddess of health, Hygeia in the hope of improving her somewhat delicate constitution. Louisa was conducting an affair at the time of the sitting with her husband's famous cousin William Beckford, author of the famous Gothic novel Vathek. Reynolds probably imbued a gloomy tone to the picture in deference to Beckford's newly fashionable literary and aeshetic image. However, Reynolds was held by the Pre-Raphaelites to epitomise all that was bad about the Royal Academy, and they called him 'Sir Sloshua Reynolds' because they felt that all good old Academicians covered their paintings with a thick coating of brown varnish to hide mistakes and give a general warm glow to their paintings

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