May 23, 2025
One genre of portrait we no longer see nowadays is that of stage actors in Shakespearean or allegorical roles, painted in an extremely grand manner. Maybe itās because times have changed, but I do think an occasional revival could be very stylish.
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, John Singer Sargent
Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, Joshua Reynolds
David Garrick as Richard III, William Hogarth
John Philip Kemble as Coriolanus, Thomas Lawrence
*Btw, this dude, John Philip Kemble, is diabolically handsome in my book. It's rare to see a Thomas Lawrence portrait that didn't do the sitter's facial features much justice, but the above is unfortunately one of them. Here's a much better one by Gilbert Stuart:
