Portrait of Lady Louisa Leveson Gower as Spes (Goddess of Hope)

Portrait of Lady Louisa Leveson Gower as Spes (Goddess of Hope) from 1767, now of unknown location, exemplifies the practice of painting aristocratic sitters in the guise of classical deities that was particularly associated with Kauffmann's London practice. Lady Louisa was a member of the prominent Leveson Gower family — one of the great Whig aristocratic families of England — and her portrait by Kauffmann was part of the fashion for allegorical female portraiture that Reynolds, Angelica Kauffmann, and other painters of the period made fashionable among the British aristocracy. The Goddess of Hope, Spes, was identified by the attribute of a flower or cornucopia and a posture of expectant openness, and Kauffmann's translation of Lady Louisa into this classical role elevated the contemporary aristocrat into the realm of classical ideal while maintaining her individual identity. As a founding member of the Royal Academy, Kauffmann was the most prominent woman painter in England, and her allegorical portraits — drawing on the classical vocabulary she had mastered in Rome — gave her a distinctive position within the London portrait market. The 1767 date belongs to her first years in England, when her reputation was rapidly establishing itself.

The portrait blends likeness with classical allegory, using the attributes and pose of Hope to elevate the sitter into an ideal realm while maintaining her individual character.