Lady Elizabeth Delmé and her Children

 

History

Lady Elizabeth Delmé and her Children, was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in Titchfield Abbey, Hampshire between 1777 and 1780. It is a portrait painted for the sitter's husband, Peter Delmé. It is currently held in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Aesthetic

I personally am not incredibly drawn to this piece as a whole. What pulls my attention to this painting is how visually appealing the art is in some places, and how bland it is in others. First let's focus on the appealing parts. First I really enjoy the texture of the sitter and the dog. The way that the dogs hair curls the detail of some hairs being a lighter gray than those around it, give the dog a shaggy yet soft feel. I know, just by looking at the dog, exactly how it felt in real life. The sitters face also has this pail color to it, compared to her neck, and shows that she has a powdered face. My favorite part of this painting is the 
drapery laying on the sitter. It has a beautiful silk texture to it that is only enhanced by the shadow work. The tone of the shadows let us see exactly how the cloth is laying on her legs, and really draw attention in this painting.

Though it is my favorite part of this painting, I do feel that it does distract a bit from the main focus of the painting and makes it difficult for me to pay attention to the three people posing in the center. I also think that the details that are present in the foreground are lost in the background. I understand that it is losing focus, but I feel that the leaves above the sitters are a little muddied, and don't have much real form. I am also not a huge fan of the fact that the painting is so heavily inspired by Raphael's Madonna's, such as Madonna in the Meadow, with the position of the sitters. Both are positioned to shape a pyramid and are meant to show stability. However looking at both pieces makes me feel that Sir Joshua Reynolds took the inspiration and didn't add too much to it, making this artwork feel to similar to the renaissance paintings that were already done.



The Influence of Royalty

The influence of royalty is quite plain in this painting. The sitter is the wife of a English Member of Parliament, and commissioned Reynolds to paint a regal portrait of his wife and children. The painting is painted in such an idealized way that was common in the days of the renaissance, and was done so to exemplify Lady Elizabeth Delmé's beauty and show how royally they lived.

Links

Hayes, John. “British Paintings Of The Sixteenth Through Nineteenth Centuries.” The Art Book, vol. 1, no. 2, 1994, pp. 29–29., doi:10.1111/j.1467-8357.1994.tb00036.x.

“Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children.” Art Object Page, www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.102.html#overview.

Hayes, John. “British Paintings Of The Sixteenth Through Nineteenth Centuries.” The Art Book, vol. 1, no. 2, 1994, pp. 29–29., doi:10.1111/j.1467-8357.1994.tb00036.x.
“Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children.” Art Object Page, www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.102.html#overview.

Comments

  1. jecarrollJune 22, 2021 at 1:42 AM

    I agree that some parts of the painting are, as you say, bland. I think what really detracts from the painting is the lack of contrast between the woman who is sitting's skin and the white shirt she is wearing.

    I do really like how Reynolds plays with shadows in the background, and how the tree bark looks realistic and all of the details in the background. I find it interesting how some parts of the painting have such detail, and the woman who is supposed to be the centerpiece kind of falls flat.

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