THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788)

Mrs Gainsborough (1778)

Oil on canvas (77 x 64 cm)

Courtauld Institute Galleries, University of London

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Gainsborough had been married for over 30 years by the date of this portrait. His marriage to Margaret Burr (1728-1798) was, presumably, a love match, but the evidence of his letters suggests that while he loved her dearly, he was, with time, to judge her “weak but good, and never much formed to humour my happiness”, Gainsborough, who once described himself as “deeply read in petticoats” remained susceptible to female charms all his life and did not resist temptation on jaunts to town with his male friends.

Nevertheless. this a supremely tender portrait, imbued with the painter’s intimate knowledge of his subject. Not that the image flatters Mrs Gainsborough, though still handsome and striking, is quite definitely a woman on the cusp of being elderly. There are blue veins in her hands and her eyes have begun to sink into the bone structure. The slight hint of vanity in the gesture of her fingers entwining the lace mantle that frames her face is touchingly observed. Mrs Gainsborough’s own expression, sweetly patient but also knowing and not uncritical, is Gainsborough’s returned; no sitter, presumably, ever knew the painter as well as she did.

The quality of the painting is exquisite. In images like this, Gainsborough, whose debt to van Dyck is sometimes confined to a discussion of elegant poses, equals the Flemish master in his ability to convey the translucence of fair skin. There is also a touch of sadness that pervades her countenance, wonderfully captured by the artist. This is one of the finest and most moving portraits by Gainsborough, and that means, one of the  most beautiful portraits ever painted by an Englishman.