Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-Hardy

Date

1801

Medium

oil on canvas

Culture

England, early 19th Century

Department

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Charlotte (left) and Sarah were 19 and 21, respectively, when this portrait was painted on the occasion of Sarah’s marriage to the topographer Daniel Lysons. The sisters wear fashionable gowns and jewelry, but their affectionate posture conveys a sisterly tenderness that transcends glamour. There was a seemingly insatiable demand for Thomas Lawrence’s portraits representing stylish English society, but he was notoriously slow working. Although this picture was begun in 1801, it still was not finished in 1806 when a friend noted its presence in the artist’s studio. Lawrence was a child prodigy and largely self-taught. At the early age of 10, he made accomplished portraits in crayon.

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