David Wilkie
, Scottish, 1785-1841
Title
Maria Arabella, Marchioness of Lansdowne and her PageDate1809
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions
32 x 35 cm
Credit LinePresented, The Misses Entwissle, c.1958
Object numberNGI.1748
Exhibition HistorySir David Wilkie of Scotland (1785-1841), North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1987 (10)Label TextThe Scottish artist David Wilkie painted portraits and genre scenes. This portrait depicts Maria Arabella, Marchioness of Lansdowne, and her servant. Wilkie painted it at Lansdowne Castle in Southampton- a neo-Gothic folly built by Maria’s second husband the 2nd Marquis of Lansdowne. The ornate velvet and lace costumes, silver tea service, and manservant, are deliberate displays of the Lansdownes’ wealth and ideas about taste. Within aristocratic circles, they were renowned for their contrived eccentricity.