The Wife of William St Quintin

A lady sits in an armchair against a reddish wall, a rose in her hand and a gentle smile on her face. Gainsborough painted her life-size, with a glimpse of landscape beside her, in one of the portraits sometimes counted among his most beautiful.

The story behind the painting

Gainsborough painted this portrait in oil on canvas in 1767 to 1768; Wikidata gives 1767. Judging by the date, the sitter's husband is thought to be Sir William St Quintin, fourth baronet of Harpham and Scampston in Yorkshire, a landowner and Member of Parliament who died in 1770. He married Rebecca, daughter of Sir John Thompson, Lord Mayor of London in 1736, and she may be the woman shown here years later.

What to look for

The canvas is about 208 by 147 cm. The lady sits in an armchair set against the wall, holding a rose. Note the even beauty of the paint on her face, hands and arms, the satin of her dress, the reddish wall and the grey door, and the fragment of landscape on the left, painted by Gainsborough himself. The satin, the wall and the door are tuned together into one soft atmosphere around her, and that harmony echoes the gentleness of her pose and her smile.

Meaning and intent

Gainsborough was known for joining portrait and landscape in one work, and for catching the true character of his sitters, which is said to have led to disputes with Sir Joshua Reynolds. Here the sitter appears modest, without idealisation, her smile softening her expression in keeping with the kindness of her pose. Ellis Waterhouse saw a certain languor in it, typical of the painter, even though the body of an aristocratic lady of the ruling class was, in his words, made for action.

Legacy

Viscount Portman gave the painting to the Tate, which is why it is also known as The Wife of Henry Portman. It is sometimes listed among Gainsborough's most beautiful pictures. It also shows what made Gainsborough stand out in British Rococo portraiture: he deepened the melancholy feeling of Van Dyck and took a keen interest in landscape, unusual for portraits of the time. That interest has been linked to the English Romantic landscape painting to come, with artists such as John Constable.