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Drawings

Countess of Gainsborough

Type
Drawings(Opens in new tab)
Date
1669
Accession number
63.52.90
Maker
John Greenhill(Opens in new tab) (British, 1649–1676)
Dimensions
9 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (25.1 x 19.1 cm.)
Medium
pastel on brown laid paper
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Sir Bruce Ingram Collection
Department
European Art
Find out more
View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)
Portraits like this one capitalized on the expanding market for portraiture that came with the reestablishment of the royal court after the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Here, the Countess of Gainsborough is depicted with fashionably heavy lidded eyes. Dark shadows accentuate her languid gaze. The artist suggests the lively contour of sheer net lace at the sitter’s neckline with just a few quick strokes of white. Highlights sparkle off the pearls in her necklace and earring, lending them a tactile quality, a sensuousness that underscores the figure’s beauty (2022).

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