Dec 20, 2024
Jane Fleming, Later Countess of Harrington
Artist: Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723-1792)
Date: c. 1778-1779
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA, United States
Description
Contemporary audiences would have recognized Jane's outstretched hand and arm as a conventional theater gesture that actors assumed when about to speak. Reynolds also refers to contemporary fashion, depicting Jane's hair ornamented by the ostrich feathers that the Duchess of Devonshire had recently made popular.