What did Joshua Reynolds brown plaque do at Fanum House (site of 47)?

The Story

Standing at this corner of Leicester Square, you're at the site where one of Britain's most celebrated portrait painters both lived and breathed his last. Sir Joshua Reynolds established his grand home and studio at No. 47 in 1760, transforming it into the epicenter of London's 18th-century art world, where he would host lavish dinner parties attended by luminaries like Samuel Johnson and James Boswell while painting some of his most famous works including portraits of King George III and countless aristocrats. For over three decades until his death here in 1792, this address served not only as Reynolds's personal residence but as the very heart of British artistic culture - its rooms witnessing both the creation of masterpieces and the founding meetings of the Royal Academy of Arts, of which Reynolds served as the first president.