Portrait of Eleanor, Countess of Lauderdale

Angelica Kauffmann, one of the most acclaimed female artists of the 18th century, painted this work. Born in Switzerland, Kauffmann built her reputation during a three-year stay in Italy, where she became renowned for her portraiture. In Rome, she moved in elite circles—mingling with British travelers on the Grand Tour and becoming part of a vibrant intellectual community of artists, architects, historians, and archaeologists inspired by the classical worlds of Greece and Rome.

Her ties with the English community in Rome led her to relocate to London in 1766, where she quickly established herself as a sought-after society portraitist. Kauffmann was among the founding members of the Royal Academy, joining such figures as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough—and was notably one of only two women granted this distinction.

We don't know much about the subject of this portrait, Eleanor, Countess of Lauderdale. She was a wealthy only child, and this painting may have been commissioned in connection with her 1782 marriage to James, the 8th Earl of Lauderdale.

P.S. Explore the art of Angelica Kauffmann—the queen of Neoclassical style! 

P.P.S. You can order her other work as a high-quality postcard in the DailyArt Shop.  :)