Sarah (Kemble) Siddons as the Tragic Muse

Maker Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723-1792)

SitterSitter: Sarah (Kemble) Siddons (British, 1755 - 1831)

Collections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1783-1784

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions94 1/4 x 58 1/8 in. (239.4 x 147.6 cm.)

DescriptionThis large-scale painting portrays Sarah Siddons, a famed Welsh-born British theater actress and cultural icon in the late 18th–early 19th century, as the Muse of Tragedy. In the shadows behind her are the personifications of Pity and Terror.

SignedSigned and dated on recto on hem of skirt: JOSHUA REYNOLDS PINXIT 1784

InscribedSigned and dated on recto on hem of skirt: JOSHUA REYNOLDS PINXIT 1784

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextLegendary actress Sarah Siddons had recently taken London by storm performing in a string of heart-breaking tragic roles when she posed for this portrait. Reynolds paints her as an austere icon of Tragedy, seemingly enthroned for all eternity. The figures behind her personify two of the elements of tragedy. To her left, holding a poisoned chalice, is the figure of Terror, whose grimacing face was modeled on Reynolds’s own features. To her right, clutching a dagger, is the figure of Pity. The artist employs a dark palette throughout the painting, except in the head and arms of the sitter, who appears as if in spotlight.

Bibliography

British paintings at the Huntington

Object number21.2