Oil on canvas, 83cm by 69cm.
The sketchbook held by the sitter is inscribed and dated ‘Angelica Kauffman, painted at Rome 1764 by N. Dance.’
The painting appears in the Burghley Inventory dated 1763, which continued to be added to for some time: ‘The Library ….over west door a picture of Angelica Kaufman (sic) by Dance.’
Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807), was herself a gifted artist.
In 1764 she painted a portrait of Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793), whom she met in Naples, whilst he was on the first of his two Grand Tours, PIC781.
He became a great admirer of her work and one of her patrons.
The artist and the sitter were both founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768.
