Portrait of three women (formerly 'The Honourable Mrs Caroline Norton and Her Sisters')

William Etty 1787 - 1849

Summary

Half-length portrait of three woman, who are likely to be related. The figure in the centre of the composition rests her arms on the shoulders of the other two, who are seated on either side of her. She looks towards the viewer, while the others look off to the left. All three wear dresses with low décolletage. The central figure has light brown hair, and wears a long jewelled necklace over her dress and a bracelet on her right wrist; the figure on the left has blonde hair and wears a turquoise dress; the one on the right has dark hair pulled away from her face and wears long jewelled earrings. The background is plain and indistinct, and the group is set within a painted oval.

Display Label

The Honourable Mrs. Caroline Norton and Her Sisters about 1847 William Etty 1787-1849 Oil on canvas Caroline Norton was a poet and novelist. She married George Norton MP when she was 19 and soon grew to regret her choice. When she separated from him, in 1836, she began to write on women and the law, particularly on divorce and child custody. Caroline’s husband sued her for divorce. He accused the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, of being her lover, and took him to court. The press ridiculed his case as misguided and nothing but an attempt at extortion. Etty shows Mrs Norton as part of a sisterhood. Georgiana is on the left and Helen on the right. It is not a portrait of a moment in time: the sisters were older than this in 1847. Etty probably painted them from old pictures. George Beatson Blair bequest 1947.74