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Shown from about the lap up, a woman with light skin sits facing us as she wears a voluminous garment that covers her head and forehead beneath a black veil that falls over and past her shoulders in this vertical portrait painting. The light comes from our left, illuminating her smooth skin and flushed cheeks. She looks at us with gray eyes under gently arched brows. Her coral-pink lips are closed and possibly pulled back slightly at the corners. Her garment is pleated across the chest and sleeves to fall in full folds over her arms. A wide panel covers her shoulders, the sides of her neck, and head, and a white band crosses her forehead. The semi-transparent black veil creates a stiff peak over her head where it attaches to the top of this garment, called a wimple. Her right hand, on our left, rests in her lap and her index finger marks her spot in the small book she holds. The other hand is presumably tucked under the folds of her garment. The background behind her is peanut brown, and a diagonal line suggests a curtain pulled to our right. An inscription in capital gold letters spans the right half of the painting along the top edge: “ELIZABETH DAUGHTER OF SR ROBT THROCKMORTON BART.”

Nicolas de Largillierre

Elizabeth Throckmorton, Canoness of the Order of the Dames Augustines Anglaises, 1729

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 37

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 81.5 x 65.7 cm (32 1/16 x 25 7/8 in.)

framed: 115.6 x 89.5 cm (45 1/2 x 35 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Accession Number

1964.20.1

Artists / Makers

Nicolas de Largillierre (artist) French, 1656 - 1746

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

across top: ELIZABETH DAUGHTER OF SR ROBT THROCKMORTON BART; on reverse: peint par N de Largillierre / 1729

Provenance

Commissioned by the brother of the sitter, Sir Robert Throckmorton, 4th Baronet [1702-1791], and placed in the parlor of Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire (transferred to the Throckmorton manor house of Coughton Court in Warwickshire by 1855); by inheritance in succession to Robert Throckmorton's three grandsons,[1] Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton, 5th Baronet [1753-1819], Sir George Throckmorton, 6th Baronet [1754-1826], and Sir Charles Throckmorton, 7th Baronet [1757-1840], all of Coughton Court; by inheritance to their nephew, Sir Robert George Throckmorton, 8th Baronet [1800-1862],[2] Coughton Court; by inheritance in succession to his sons, Sir Nicholas William George Throckmorton, 9th Baronet [1838-1919] and Sir Richard Charles Acton Throckmorton, 10th Baronet [1819-1927], both of Coughton Court; by inheritance to his grandson, Sir Robert George Maxwell Throckmorton, 11th Baronet [1908-1989],[3] Coughton Court; (sale by order of "The Trustees of the Will of the Late Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, Bart.," Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 26 June 1964, no. 68); (Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold 29 October 1964 to NGA.

[1] Sons of Sir Robert Throckmorton's older son George (c. 1728-1767) and his wife, Anna Maria Paston.

[2] Son of William Throckmorton (1762-1819) and Frances Giffard.

[3] Son of Lieutenant-Colonel Courtenay Brabazon Throckmorton (1866-1916) and Lilian Langford-Brooke (d. 1955).

[4] Stockbook no. J 4530.

Associated Names

Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Throckmorton, 10th Bart, Richard Charles Acton, Sir
Throckmorton, 11th Bart., Robert George Maxwell, Sir
Throckmorton, 4th Bart, Robert, Sir
Throckmorton, 5th Bart., John Courtenay, Sir
Throckmorton, 6th Bart., George, Sir
Throckmorton, 7th Bart., Charles, Sir
Throckmorton, 8th Bart., Robert George, Sir
Throckmorton, 9th Bart., Nicholas William George, Sir

Exhibition History

1957: European Old Masters, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1957, no. 173, as Elizabeth Throckmorton in a Dominican Habit.

1969: In Memoriam, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1855: Inventory of Portraits at Coughton Court. Original manuscript preserved at Coughton Court, 1855: 10.

1930: Throckmorton, Charles Wickliffe. A Genealogical and Historical Account of the Throckmorton Family in England and the United States. Richmond, Virginia, 1930: 139.

1937: Vertue, George. "The Notebooks of George Vertue - V." Walpole Society 26 (1937-1938): 26:105.

1957: Waterhouse, Ellis K. "The Manchester Exhibition 1857." The Burlington Magazine 90, no. 657 (December 1957): 414, 415, no. 657, fig. 24.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 73.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:298, color repro.

1966: Teyssèdre, Bernard. "Largillière's Portrait of Elizabeth Throckmorton." Art News 64, no. 9 (January 1966): 44-47, 68, color repro.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 63, repro.

1970: Master Paintings. Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London, 1970: cited under no. 15.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 188, repro.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 326, repro.

1979: Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 81, pl. 69.

1982: Rosenfeld, Myra Nan. Largillierre and the Eighteenth-Century Portrait. Exh. cat. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, 1981. Montreal, 1982: 246-247, 274-275, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 324, no. 429, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 221, repro.

1985: Jackson-Stops, Gervase. The Treasure Houses of Britain: Five Hundred Years of Private Patronage and Art Collecting. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New Haven, 1985: 227, cited under no. 148.

1992: Brême, Dominique. "Nicolas de Largilliere." In La Cour des Stuarts à Saint-Germain-en-Laye du temps de Louis XIV. Exh. cat. Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Paris, 1992: 108.

1992: Rosenfeld, Myra Nan. "La culture de Largillierre." Revue de l'art 92(1992): 49, 53 n. 68, 50, repro.

1993: Hemingway, Vincent, and Jeffrey Haworth. Coughton Court and the Throckmortons. Norwich, 1993: 18.

1993: Levey, Michael. Painting and Sculpture in France 1700-1789. New Haven and London, 1993: 8, 10, color repro.

2003: Radford, Ron. "Recent acquisitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide." The Burlington Magazine 145, no. 1201 (April 2003): 329.

2004: Rowell, Christopher. "National Trust Acquisitions, 2003-2004." Apollo 160, no. 513 (n.s.) (November 2004): 72.

2005: Radford, Ron. Island to Empire: 300 Years of British Art 1550-1850. Exh. cat. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2005: 91, 92, repro.

2006: Rosenberg, Pierre. Only in America: One Hundred Paintings in American Museums Unmatched in European Collections. Milan, 2006: 124-125, 232, 238, color fig.

2009: Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 68, 303-310, color repro.

2009: Marshall, Peter, and Geoffrey Scott, eds. Catholic Gentry in English Society: The Throckmortons of Coughton from Reformation to Emancipation. Farnham and Burlington, 2009: 190-192, 195, 196 fig. 7.4b.