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PORTRAIT OF MRS. MICHEL, NÉE ANNE FANE

Creator(s): Thomas Lawrence (Painter)

On view in: First Floor Library


About this object

Lawrence was the finest English portrait painter of his generation during the reign of George III and the Regency. Mrs. Michel, née Anne Fane, initially sat for this portrait in 1813. The portrait remained in the artist’s studio until his death in 1830. It was one of the many paintings Lawrence began and put aside, much to the annoyance of his clients. Although Anne Fane was not old when Lawrence painted her portrait, the artist successfully captured her maturity and the severity of her expression.

Turned to three-quarters view, a young woman with dark wavy hair poses in an armchair with her left arm resting on a rose-colored, striped cushion propped against the back of a chair. Her right arm, around which a gauze scarf is entwined, rests on her lap. She is dressed in a black velvet gown with a low neck and full, puffed sleeves and a large black velvet hat heavy with overhanging white plumes. About her neck is a double strand of pearls, and she wears a bracelet and several rings. Behind her, a distant landscape of open sky is seen through a window.

Object name:
PORTRAIT OF MRS. MICHEL, NÉE ANNE FANE
Made from:
Oil on canvas
Made in:
England
Date made:
1813-1830
Size:
139.7 cm (55 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
51.14
Class:
PAINTING
Signature marks:
STAMP British customs stamp for 1912 [On canvas]
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973