Artwork
Lady Maria Conyngham (died 1843)
Lady Maria Conyngham (died 1843) is an oil painting by the British Romanticist artist Thomas Lawrence. It dates from 1824 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Lady Maria Conyngham sits on a red blanket among trees, wearing a white dress with puffy sleeves, her dark curls loose. A dog sits beside her, looking up as she holds its paw. The colors stay muted, greens and browns and red, her face calm against the wooded background. Painted by Thomas Lawrence in 1824.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts Lady Maria Harriet Conyngham, the younger daughter of the Anglo-Irish aristocrat Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham.
The painting depicts Lady Maria Harriet Conyngham, the younger daughter of the Anglo-Irish aristocrat Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham. Painted when the sitter was about fourteen, the work shows her dressed in white, a color shared with her mother and sister in their portraits by the same artist. A pet dog appears at the left, lending the image a less formal quality than the stricter depictions of her female relatives.
Maria was a particular favorite of King George IV, who commissioned the portrait and paid £210 for it. Originally displayed in the King's apartments at St James's Palace alongside portraits of Maria's mother and Princess Sophia, the image signifies the close bond between the monarch and the Conyngham family during the Regency era.
Technique & Style
The portrait of Lady Maria Conyngham is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 92.1 by 71.8 cm, in the portrait genre. Thomas Lawrence rendered the sitter in a white dress, accompanied by a small dog, using the fine, layered brushwork typical of his Regency-era technique, with particular attention to the handling of fabric and fur. The work entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1955.
History & Provenance
The portrait of Lady Maria Conyngham was painted by Thomas Lawrence in 1824, when the sitter was around fourteen years old. Lawrence, the leading portraitist of the Regency era and President of the Royal Academy, had been commissioned to paint members of the Conyngham family, the Anglo-Irish household closely connected to George IV. The king personally paid Lawrence £210 for the work.
After its completion, the painting was hung in a bedroom at St James's Palace, alongside Lawrence's portrait of Maria's mother and his portrait of Princess Sophia, the king's sister. The painting later accompanied Maria, who in 1832 married William Somerville, 1st Baron Athlumney. It subsequently entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which acquired it in 1955.
Overview
Sir Thomas Lawrence painted this portrait of Lady Maria Conyngham in 1825. The artwork depicts the young woman seated outdoors, accompanied by a dog. She is shown in a white dress, positioned on a red blanket amidst a forest setting.
This piece offers a glimpse into the aristocratic portraiture characteristic of Lawrence's era, capturing a moment of serene contemplation.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English painter who served as the fourth president of the Royal Academy.
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