Paintings

The Hon. Theresa Parker, later the Hon. Theresa Villiers

Type: Paintings(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1787
Accession number: 26.85
Maker: Joshua Reynolds(Opens in new tab) (British, 1723–1792)
Sitter: Sitter: Hon. Theresa Parker, later Hon. Theresa Villiers(Opens in new tab) (British, 1775–1856)
Dimensions: canvas: 30 × 25 in. (76.2 × 63.5 cm.) frame: 41 × 36 1/4 × 4 3/8 in. (104.1 × 92.1 × 11.1 cm.)
Medium: oil on canvas
Description: As a child, standing nearly half-length, profile right, her bare right forearm seen. Short face, with tiptilted nose, light-brown hair in curls round the neck and with a square fringe. She wears a high mobcap of spotted muslin trimmed with quilled white ribbon, and a low-ribbon are pink. Background of blue, clouded sky and landscape with threes.
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department: European Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

Label text

In this portrait, Reynolds depicts Theresa Parker in a remarkably direct, matter-of-fact manner. He paints her fashionable clothing with uncharacteristic specificity. The impression of truthful, unmediated observation carries through to the unconventional presentation of the sitter, with not only the head but also the body in severe profile. This mode of presentation demystifies the girl rather than romanticizing her, laying out her features with stark clarity.

The Hon. Theresa Parker, later the Hon. Theresa Villiers

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