Sarah Stainforth

Thomas Lawrence, who gained renown for his grand manner oil paintings, produced this pair of small-scale portraits while still a precocious teenager, long before embarking on his eminent career in London. Celebrated for his skill as a draftsman, he began to produce portraits in pastel after the family moved to the spa town of Bath in 1780. These two images depict the relationship between a husband and wife. Traditionally celebrated in portraiture, marriage took on new significance in the eighteenth century, when men and women of sensibility emphasized their emotional ties. Despite the separation of the subjects within two discrete frames, when hung side by side on the wall this pair of portraits evokes the affectionate marital bond between the couple through their echoing poses.