Miss Juliana Willoughby
George Romney·1781-1783
Historical Context
Romney's child portraits show his particular sensitivity to the emotional world of childhood, the same warmth and naturalness he brought to adult subjects translated into a register appropriate to younger sitters. His children are presented with an affectionate informality that distinguished his approach from the more formal conventions of child portraiture derived from Van Dyck — the children appear active and responsive rather than posed and contained, their natural energy accommodated within the portrait format rather than suppressed by it. These qualities made his child portraits particularly popular with parents who wanted images that captured their children's personalities rather than merely their appearances.
Technical Analysis
The painting exemplifies Romney's mature style, with luminous flesh tones achieved through delicate glazing over a warm ground. The white dress is rendered with broad, confident strokes and brilliant highlights, while the landscape background is treated with atmospheric softness. The composition achieves a natural, unstudied elegance.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter's father, Sir Christopher Willoughby, Bt. [1748-1808], Baldon House, Oxfordshire; by descent to Sir John Willoughby, 5th Bt.,[1] Fulmer Hall, Slough, Buckinghamshire; sold 1906 to (M. Knoedler & Co., London and New York); purchased February 1907 by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] The 2nd through 4th Baronets Willoughby added to the former owner table in the NGA collection database are per The Getty Provenance Index, which lists these baronets each with the symbol (?), indicating some doubt as to the painting's direct passage through these three succeeding brothers down to the 5th Bt.
_MET_DP169401.jpg&width=600)
