Penelope (Pitt), Viscountess Ligonier

Maker Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727-1788)

SitterSitter: Penelope (Pitt), Viscountess Ligonier (British, born 1749)

Collections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1770

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions94 1/2 x 61 3/4 in. (240 x 156.8 cm.)

DescriptionStanding center on a terrace, full-length, full-front, the head turned slightly to the left. She leans her left elbow on a carved pedestal supporting a bronze dancing nymph. The fingers of her left hand touch her cheek, her right arm is akimbo, in the hand a crayon holder. Dark hair, slightly powdered, dressed high and crowned with a plait; one curl on her right shoulder; dark-brown eyes, looking out of the picture. She wears a low gown of oyster satin, reflecting golden lights from the pedestal on which she leans, and a rose at her breast. Round her waist a fringed scarf of gray and gold; a black-velvet band on her left wrist. In the background a deep-rose curtain, disclosing, left, a clouded sky and wooded landscape. In the right corner, a chair bearing drawings and two casts.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextArtistic tools – a drawing instrument called a porte-crayon, a portfolio, sheets of paper, and plaster casts stacked on the chair – surround Lady Ligonier. Portraits of women in the guise of artists were frequently commissioned in the 18th century, when skill in draftsmanship was considered a desirable sign of refinement. In this portrait, however, Gainsborough pushed the mode to the limits of feminine propriety. He has represented Lady Ligonier in a pose of great self-confidence and force that was quite exceptional – portraying her with more swagger than her husband, whose companion portrait hangs nearby. Leaning on a plinth and thrusting her hip outward, she raises her left hand to the side of her head and points directly to her temple as if to call attention to her intelligence.

Status

On view

Object number11.29