Sunday, June 13, 2010

Portrait of Margaret Woffington by Jean-Baptiste van Loo

Image: Margaret Woffington (1738) oil on canvas portrait painting by French portrait painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo, dimensions 111 cm x 88 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, England.

Actress Margaret Woffington (1718-1760), popularly known as ‘Peg’, enjoyed a lively and unconventional life, and she was one of the most famous actors of her times. Various artists are known to have painted her. This portrait is not signed, but because of the delicate treatment of the flesh tones and the sensitive rendering of the costume, critics justify the attribution to French portrait painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684-1745).

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