Jane Hamilton, Wife of 9th Lord Cathcart, and her Daughter Jane, later Duchess of Atholl

Sir Joshua Reynolds 1723 - 1792

Summary

Three-quarter length portrait of a woman in a blue gown, forward-facing but slightly turned to seat her baby daughter on her knee at an angle facing the right. The mother has one hand gently touching her child's arm, which is extended forward, and the other wrapped around its body. A light, gauzy drapery is wrapped over the mother's head and also around the child. To the right of the figures, seated on a pedestal, is a whippet, which gazes up at the face of the woman; the child, in turn, gazes at the dog. In the right foreground is the suggestion of drapery tied back with a tasselled cord. The background is dark and indistinct. Lady Hamilton particularly has a grey aspect, due to the red pigment used for her skin fading over time.

Display Label

Gallery text panel Face and Place Portraiture and Landscape in the 18th Century A dramatic growth in Britain's wealth during the 1700s brought about an increased demand for art and design. Hundreds of grand houses were built or improved and many were filled with impressive private collections. The prominent display of paintings and decorative arts demonstrated their owners' status and taste. Portraiture became particularly fashionable, leading to rising numbers of 'face painters' and to an increase in the quality of their work. The ability to capture a likeness was most important but artists could also enhance a sitter's image with qualities such as prestige, wisdom or power. New public exhibitions gave artists a shop window and the Royal Academy, founded in 1768, organised the most important annual show. Amid this developing climate of enthusiasm for art, landscape painting also began its remarkable evolution. Landscape arose from a need to accurately record views and was first thought to be of little artistic merit. But as painters grew in confidence during the later 1700s it was treated with more creativity and seriousness, establishing a distinctive tradition in British art.