Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
Thomas Gainsborough·1783
Historical Context
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, painted in 1783, depicts one of the most famous women in Georgian England. Georgiana Spencer (1757–1806) was a political hostess, fashion icon, and supporter of the Whig party whose social influence rivaled that of the royal family. Gainsborough captures her confident charm and fashionable elegance in a portrait that has become an icon of eighteenth-century English portraiture. The portrait was famously stolen from a gallery in 1876 and recovered in 1901. The National Gallery of Art’s version demonstrates Gainsborough’s unrivaled ability to capture the glamour and personality of Georgian society’s most prominent women.
Technical Analysis
Gainsborough renders the Duchess with characteristic bravura, the enormous plumed hat and flowing costume painted in sweeping, confident strokes. The face is modeled with delicate precision, capturing her famously appealing expression and animated features.
Look Closer
- ◆Look at the enormous plumed hat — the fashion accessory that dominated 1783's portraiture, rendered with bravura sweeping strokes that convey the feathers' specific texture and the hat's impressive scale.
- ◆Notice the flowing costume — the Duchess's dress rendered with long, confident strokes that suggest the movement of fabric around a figure in motion, Gainsborough's virtuoso costume painting.
- ◆Observe the atmospheric landscape background — soft, indistinct trees and sky that create depth without competing with the sitter's fashionable silhouette in the foreground.
- ◆Find the Duchess's expression — Gainsborough captures Georgiana's famous charm and animation in her expression, the warmth and intelligence visible in a face that captivated all of Georgian society.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter's mother, Georgiana, Countess Spencer [1737-1814], wife of John Spencer, 1st earl Spencer [1734-1783], Althorp, Northamptonshire; by descent[1] to John, 7th earl Spencer [1892-1975], Althorp; purchased 1924 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold 13 April 1925 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] Additional Earls Spencer per The Getty Provenance Index, and NGA curatorial files.
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