Lady Frances (Finch) Courtenay

Maker Thomas Hudson (British, 1701-1779)

SitterSitter: Lady Frances (Finch) Courtenay (British, 1721 - 1761)

Collections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Dateca. 1741

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions50 1/4 x 40 in. (127.6 x 101.6 cm.) frame: 58 1/4 × 48 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (148 × 123.2 × 8.9 cm.)

DescriptionIn this portrait, Lady Frances Courtenay is standing in an open landscape at sunset holding a long white feather in her left hand.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Bequest of Florence M. Quinn

Label TextThe dress, pose, setting, and accessories in Hudson’s portrait of Lady Frances Courtenay are modeled on the 17th-century Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens’ portrait of his wife, Helena Fourment. Many British artists employed its distinctive black dress, ruffled collar, and feathered hat in their own female portraits, and similar costumes were often worn at costume balls by women who came in the guise of “Rubens’ wife.” In this portrait, Hudson combines the glamour and romance of the masquerade with a historical dignity befitting the aristocratic sitter.

Status

On view

Object number44.100