Portrait of a lady, perhaps Giulia Beneni c.1870
Watercolour on ivory laid on card | 11.0 x 8.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 422021
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|A partially clad woman, wearing only a white lace peignoir over a lace shift and numerous strings of pearls, fixes the viewer with a bold stare. However, it is not only the suggestive dress and seductive glance of the subject which confirm this as a love token in the oldest traditions of the portrait miniature. A fragment of writing paper preserved with the miniature bears a gilded monogram 'BI' and the motto: AMOR OMNIA VINCIT [Love Conquers All] as well as the inscription 'In coeur – ta Gialia.'
The miniature may depict a courtesan from the period c. 1870, possibly Giulia Beneni, known as 'La Barucci', with whom Albert Edward, Prince of Wales had a liaison in Paris in 1867. After her death, her brother extorted 6,000 francs from the Prince of Wales for the return of letters of a delicate nature which had been in her possession.
Provenance
First recorded in the Royal Collection during the reign of HM Queen Elizabeth II
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on ivory laid on card
Measurements
11.0 x 8.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
12.2 x 10.0 cm (frame, external)
10.8 x 8.8 cm (sight)
Other number(s)