Maria

Maria at Nottingham Museums likely depicts a literary heroine, possibly from Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey, a subject that allowed Kauffmann to combine portraiture conventions with literary narrative. Sterne’s Maria, the beautiful mad woman encountered by the narrator, was a popular subject that embodied the 18th-century cult of sensibility. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays graceful, decorative Neoclassicism combining classical subject matter with a lyrical sweetness, soft color, elegant figure types, pendant portraits and mythological scenes.

The figure is rendered with Kauffmann’s characteristic soft, sympathetic approach to female subjects. Gentle lighting and a muted palette create an appropriately melancholic atmosphere.