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Portrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-Hardy
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Charlotte (left) and Sarah were 19 and 21, respectively, when this portrait was painted on the occasion of Sarah’s marriage to the topographer Daniel Lysons. The sisters wear fashionable gowns and jewelry, but their affectionate posture conveys a sisterly tenderness that transcends glamour. There was a seemingly insatiable demand for Thomas Lawrence’s portraits representing stylish English society, but he was notoriously slow working. Although this picture was begun in 1801, it still was not finished in 1806 when a friend noted its presence in the artist’s studio.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePortrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-Hardy, 1801. Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769–1830). Oil on canvas; framed: 161 x 135 x 11 cm (63 3/8 x 53 1/8 x 4 5/16 in.); unframed: 129 x 103 cm (50 13/16 x 40 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John L. Severance, 1942.642
