There is a composure and a stateliness in this portrait which are a sure index to the mind of the young nobleman, and few painters could so well have represented the mind of his sitter as Romney has done in this work. The child was assuredly father to the man, and thus early he foreshadowed in his features the calm dignity, reserve and power which in after life distinguished him as Duke.
The third portrait is that of his wife, generally known as the Countess-Duchess of Sutherland.
Elizabeth was the only daughter and surviving child of the seventeenth and last Earl of Sutherland, and became, on the death of her father, Countess in her own right. Her mother was a great beauty, and she inherited all the exquisite features and charm of that parent, who died in the same year as the Earl of Sutherland, placing this bright girl, at the tender age of two years, in possession of the vast estates and the title of the earldom. Her beauty attracted the loyalty of all her tenants to her, and Sir Walter Scott records many a story of her charm and kindness.
The portrait records her appearance soon after she was married, when somewhat more than twenty years of age, and in the heyday of her sweet and thoughtful beauty. She is dressed in white and gold, her dark brown hair tied with ribbon, the background being foliage and a distant landscape.
There is all the effect of power, dignity and determination about the mouth and eyes; the face is a distinct oval, the form rather thin and slight, and the composure of the expression very marked. It is a striking portrait of a beautiful girl of high lineage and important position, and is a triumph of art as a portrait which is at once lovely in itself and a delineation of the mind of the person who is depicted in it.
THE CHIEF WORKS OF ROMNEY
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON.
Study of Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante, about 1786. (312)
The Parson's Daughter. A portrait. A circular bust portrait of a young lady. See page 45. (1068)