Sarah Lethieullier, Lady Fetherstonhaugh (1722-1788), with the Branch of a Pear

Sarah Lethieullier, Lady Fetherstonhaugh, appears in yet another 1751 Batoni portrait from the Uppark group, this time holding the branch of a pear tree — a more informal, domestic image than the Diana hunting portrait. The multiple portraits of Sarah from the same Roman visit demonstrate the Fetherstonhaugh family's confidence in Batoni's abilities and their investment in building a significant portrait collection from their Grand Tour. Holding fruit branches was a convention linking women to natural abundance and the pastoral mode, less symbolically loaded than a full mythological disguise. The pear's associations with sweetness and fertility gave the image gentle allegorical resonance without requiring the full apparatus of a mythological portrait.

Oil on canvas in a more relaxed format than the companion Diana portrait. The natural pear branch allows Batoni to demonstrate his botanical precision alongside portraiture skills. The palette would be warmer and more intimate — greens and yellows of foliage against flesh tones — creating a pastoral mood appropriate to the informal subject.