What is the meaning of the term "Grand Manner" and in relation to which paintings can we apply it?

For every member of the Royal Academy (an institution dictating the “official” taste in art in the eighteenth and nineteenth century) the term “Grand Manner” would have been applied to every painting considered to be a manifestation of the highest style of art in academic theory. This theory was based on the principles of classical Greek and Roman art, and above all stressed clever composition, meticulous execution and morally uplifting content. A painting worthy of a “Grand Manner” label would traditionally have been painted with a fine level of detail on a large-scale canvas, and would have contained either historical or mythological subject matter with cultural quotes – specific references to classical or religious sources, such as specific positions of the figures, copied from the works of the Great Masters (such as Raphael). Traditionally the Grand Manner label has been applied to history paintings, but the first ever president of the British Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, adapted it successfully to portraiture as well.