Charlotte Matilda, afterward Queen of Wurtemberg, drew and painted landscapes after the manner of Waterloo.
LADY DIANA BEAUCLERK.
Lady Diana Spencer, the wife of Topham Beauclerk, and the daughter of the Duke of Marlborough, was celebrated as an amateur artist, and produced drawings that gained the enthusiastic admiration of Walpole. In 1776 he built a hexagonal tower, which he called “Beauclerk Closet,” as it was constructed “purposely for the reception of seven incomparable drawings by Lady Diana, illustrating scenes in his ‘Mysterious Mother.’” They were conceived and executed in a fortnight. In 1796 the lady produced designs for a translation of Bürger’s ballad of “Leonore,” by her nephew, published in folio the following year. Lady Diana also finished a series of designs for a splendid edition of Dryden’s Fables in folio. These show that she possessed an elegant and fertile imagination, with a truly classic taste. In her portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire, the nymph-like grace of the figure is like what a Grecian sculptor would give to the form of a dryad or river-goddess.
She died in 1808, at the age of seventy-four.
MARGARET, COUNTESS OF LUCAN,
possessed a remarkable talent for copying miniatures and illuminations. She completed a series of embellishments of Shakspeare’s historical plays, in five folio volumes, now preserved in the library at Althorp. For sixteen years she devoted herself to the pursuit, indulging in “the pleasurable toil” of illustrating that great work. She commenced this enterprise when fifty years of age, and ended it at sixty-six. Walpole says: “Whatever of taste, beauty, and judgment in decoration, by means of landscapes, flowers, birds, heraldic ornaments and devices, etc., could dress our immortal bard in a yet more fascinating form, has been accomplished by a noble hand, which undertook a Herculean task, and with a true delicacy and finish of execution that has been rarely equaled.”
Lady Lucan also copied the most exquisite works of Isaac and Peter Oliver, Hoskins, and Cooper; “with genius,” says her admiring friend, “that almost depreciated those masters;” and “transferring the vigor of Raphael to her copies in water-colors.” She died in 1815.
The Countess of Tott exhibited in 1804 her portrait of the famous Elfi Bey. Lord Orford speaks of Mrs. Delany’s skill in painting and imitating flowers with cuttings of colored paper. This lady is mentioned by Madame d’Arblay, in her Diary, as the queen’s friend, the wife of Patrick Delany, who was the intimate friend of Dean Swift.
Among a host of minor women artists may be mentioned Mary Benwell, who painted portraits and miniatures in oil and crayons, exhibited from 1762 to 1783. She married Code, who was in the army, and purchased rank for him. He was stationed at Gibraltar, where he died. Mrs. Code retired from her profession in 1800. Miss Anna Ladd, skilled in the same branch, died in 1770. Agatha van der Myn also painted flowers, fruits, and birds in England.
Anna Smyters, the wife of a sculptor and architect, acquired celebrity for her miniatures and water-color paintings. One, representing a wind-mill with sails spread, a miller with his sack on his shoulder, a carriage and horse, and a road leading to a village, was complete, of a size so small that it could be covered by a grain of corn.