Lavinia (Bingham), Countess Spencer, and John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, later Earl Spencer

Countess Spencer commissioned this portrait to commemorate her new status as a mother following the birth of her first child. The painting captures a spontaneous act of maternal affection as she comforts her son, who has evidently taken a fall. The imagery reflects the growing idealization and prestige of maternity in late 18th-century England as upper-class women began to take a more active role in raising their children.