Emily Anderson: Little Red Riding Hood

Maker Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769-1830)

SitterSitter: Emily Anderson (British, born around 1805-1810)

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Dateca.1821

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 63 3/4 × 45 in. (161.9 × 114.3 cm.) frame: 75 3/4 × 57 1/2 × 5 in. (192.4 × 146.1 × 12.7 cm.)

DescriptionThe girl, aged about 15, stands center, full-length, full-face, the head tilted slightly to the left, the right foot advanced. Her right hand holds above her knee a platter in a gold-brown kerchief, her left clasps a white apron to her waist. Dark-brown hair, blue eyes, and fresh complexion. Full red hood, the ends over her shoulders; dark-puce bodice and skirt, gray-white stockings, black shoes, and a blue ribbon at the waist. Deep-blue sky on left, with rosy clouds to right; deep-russet foliage across the background; a pool on the right.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextEmily Anderson wears a fashionable high-waisted dress of brown cotton, long, white silk stockings and black shoes. Her hooded cloak of thick, red wool lined with silk was a conventional element in women’s attire. Here, it clearly suggests the fable of “Little Red Riding Hood.” The exaggerated sweetness of Emily’s expression and her modest gesture also allude to the ideal of innocence implicit in the folktale.

This picture, painted for the sitter’s father, was reportedly inspired by an amateur theatrical performance Emily gave in the guise of Little Red Riding Hood. A great fan of the theater, Lawrence depicted his subject with all the drama of a stage production – spotlit against a dark background and towering over the viewer.

Bibliography

British paintings at the Huntington

Object number18.18