Lady Maria Callcott, née Dundas (1785–1842), Author and Traveller

Lady Maria Callcott from 1830 by Augustus Wall Callcott depicts his wife, the travel writer and art historian Maria Graham. Maria Callcott was a remarkable woman who had traveled extensively in India, South America, and Italy before marrying the painter in 1827, writing widely read accounts of each journey. She also wrote Little Arthur's History of England, which became one of the most popular children's history books of the Victorian era. As one of the most respected landscape painters in early Victorian England, Callcott brought careful technique and a pleasing balance of observation and idealization to his subjects. This portrait of his wife, now held in the Government Art Collection, reveals the personal side of a career usually associated with landscapes, demonstrating his competence in figure painting alongside his landscape specialty.

The portrait of the artist's wife is rendered with personal warmth within Callcott's landscape painter's technique, capturing her intelligent features with sympathetic care.