Mrs. William Man Godschall (Sarah Godschall, 1730–1795) by John Russell

John Russell's 1791 pastel portrait of Sarah Godschall hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was painted for her fortieth wedding anniversary and hung in the couple's dining room alongside a matching portrait of her husband, William.

Russell was the most celebrated British pastellist of his era. He published a treatise on the medium in 1772, and here you can see why he dominated it. Watch how he handles the lace cap and collar: translucent white on white, achieved with pastel on paper. The matte texture of the lace bonnet contrasts with the satin sheen of the ribbon tied at its crown.

The flowers are the painting's emotional payload. In eighteenth-century portraiture, a bouquet was rarely just decorative. The vivid blue cluster, almost certainly forget-me-nots, stood for true love and remembrance. The pale pink roses at the center signaled affection and admiration. At sixty-one, on a fortieth anniversary, those choices were a quiet language Sarah and her husband both spoke.

The portraits stayed at Weston House in Surrey after William died in 1802. They descended through the family, eventually passing to Lord Palmerston at Broadlands, and later remained with the estate until Christie's sold them in 1960. Two collectors gifted Sarah's portrait to the Met the following year. Her direct gaze has been there since 1961, still holding the flowers her husband gave her.

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