Romney, like every other painter of that time, had long desired to study the works of the great foreign masters; but his means were not yet equal to the expense of a journey to Italy. In 1764 he travelled to Paris, however, in company with his friend Greene. He made the acquaintance of Joseph Vernet, through whose good offices he gained admittance to the Orleans Gallery, where he spent most of his time. After a stay of six weeks he returned to London, and took rooms in Gray's Inn, near Greene. Here Braithwaite procured him a sitter in Sir Joseph Yates, one of the judges of the king's bench, who brought several other legal patrons in his train. Here, too, was painted a ‘Death of King Edmund,’ which, more fortunate than his first essay, was unanimously awarded the second premium of fifty guineas by the Society of Arts in 1765. The first prize of sixty guineas was given to Hugh Hamilton (Premiums of the Society of Arts, 1765).
In 1767 Romney paid a visit to his family. His brother Peter returned with him to London, to start as a painter. But Peter's talents were neutralised by a weak character, and in the sequel he went back to the north. Romney's next move was (in 1767) to Great Newport Street. There he formed a friendship with Richard Cumberland the dramatist, who greatly influenced his career. Cumberland sat for his portrait (now in the National Portrait Gallery), and, although the painter was then only charging eight guineas for a three-quarter figure, gave him ten, as an encouragement to raise his prices. Cumberland induced Garrick to come and see the picture, and the great actor, in spite of his adhesion to the ‘Reynolds faction,’ promised to sit himself. The proposed portrait, however, was never painted. Cumberland was then a popular writer, and the inflated odes in which he sang his friend's genius no doubt did much to make Romney known.
The first picture to attract favourable notice in London was a family group painted for Mr. Leigh, a proctor in Doctors' Commons. This appeared in 1768, together with a fancy subject, described as ‘Sisters contemplating on Mortality’ (sic). In 1769 he exhibited another ‘Family Piece,’ portraits of Sir George Warren, his wife, and daughter; and in 1770 he transferred his allegiance from the Free Society of Artists to the Chartered Society, sending to the exhibition in Spring Gardens two female studies, ‘Mirth’ and ‘Melancholy,’ said to have been painted from Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Yates. In 1771 he exhibited a ‘Mrs. Yates as the Tragic Muse,’ a portrait of Major Pearson of the East India Company's service, a ‘Lady and Child,’ and a ‘Beggar Man.’ In 1772 he contributed two portraits, one being that of his friend Ozias Humphry [q. v.], the miniature-painter. With these the brief tale of works exhibited during his lifetime ends. He never again sent anything to a public exhibition.
The long-projected journey to Italy had now become a possibility, and in the autumn of 1772 Romney made arrangements to travel to Rome with Ozias Humphry. His position was now assured. He was making an income of over 1,000l. a year, and had many influential patrons. An attack of fever delayed his departure from England for some months. In August 1772 Charles Greville, second son of the Earl of Warwick, sent him a letter of introduction to his uncle, Sir William Hamilton (1730–1803) [q. v.], then ambassador at Naples. Romney made no use of it, as his travels did not extend so far south; but here we have the first link in that connection with Lady Hamilton which was to leave such lasting traces on his art. He left England with Humphry on 20 March 1773, and, travelling in leisurely fashion through France, went by sea from Genoa to Leghorn, and so to Florence. He arrived in Rome on 18 June. Studious and retiring, Romney mixed little in the society of the Italian capital; but a letter of introduction from the Duke of Gloucester to the pope proved of service to him. He lodged in the Jesuits' College, and spent his time in copying the most famous pictures and in studying the great examples of antique sculpture. He was greatly impressed by the latter, and its influence upon his art is evident. His fine natural taste readily assimilated its mingled nobility and simplicity, and accepted them as counsels of perfection in art. He also found a good opportunity to study the nude, through the presence at that time of a beautiful professional model in Rome. She was the original of his ‘Wood Nymph,’ which became the property of Thomas Keate [q. v.], the surgeon. Another interesting work of this period was a copy, on the same scale as the original, of the lower part of Raphael's ‘Transfiguration,’ then the altar-piece of San Pietro in Montorio. To enable him to make this copy he was allowed to have a scaffold erected in the church, and worked at his task daily over the heads of the officiating clergy. The Duke of Richmond afterwards offered him 100l. for the copy; but this Romney refused as insufficient. It was hung in the entrance-hall of his house in Cavendish Square, and after his death was sold at the auction of his effects for six guineas. ‘An Assassin’ (the
