Joanna Baillie, 1762 - 1851. Dramatist and poet
About this artwork
Joanna Baillie grew up in Scotland but moved to London in 1784, where she had access to literary society through her aunt and uncle. Her aunt’s example encouraged Baillie to write poetry, but a love of the theatre soon made her turn to serious drama. Her most ambitious works were her ‘Plays on the Passions’- a series of tragedies and comedies on human nature – published between 1798 and 1836. Although her plays met with mixed criticism, they were admired by Sir Walter Scott, with whom she kept up a regular correspondence. This portrait drawing from the artist’s sketchbook shows Joanna Baillie wearing a typical Regency gown of white muslin and a turban, which at the time was a popular type of headgear for women.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Mary Ann Knight (1776 - 1851) English
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title:Joanna Baillie, 1762 - 1851. Dramatist and poet
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date created:About 1825
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materials:Pencil and watercolour on paper
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measurements:27.90 x 20.10 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1964
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accession number:PG 2036
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Mary Ann Knight
Mary Ann Knight
The daughter of a wealthy London merchant, Knight trained with Andrew Plimer, who subsequently married her sister. Knight's surviving notebooks record some 696 miniatures which she painted between 1802 and 35 and sold at two to forty guineas each. She was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy...