Henrietta Maria Noel-Hill, Marchioness of Ailesbury (1769-1831)
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1809 - 1830
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2375 x 1422 mm (93 1/2 x 56 in)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 608955
Caption
The sitter was the eldest daughter of Noel Hill, 1st Lord Berwick (1745-1789) and Anne Vernon (1744-1797). During a visit to Italy, with her two sisters and widowed mother, she was rescued by Lord Charles Brudenell-Bruce (1773 – 1856) from a serious riding accident, when her horse bucked. They married at the Villa La Quercia, outside Florence, in April 1793. Her husband succeeded as 2nd Earl of Ailesbury in 1814 and was created Marquess in 1821. They had two sons and a daughter. According to Lawrence’s Diary, the portrait was begun in 1809 and was about two-thirds finished when the artist died. It remained in the artist’s studio until after his death, when it was delivered to Lord Ailesbury. Having had a copy made, Ailesbury sent on the original to the sitter’s brother, William Noel Hill, 3rd Lord Berwick. He thought Berwick would prefer an unfinished picture by an acclaimed artist, rather than a finished copy by a studio assistant.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Henrietta Maria Noel-Hill, Marchioness of Ailesbury (1769-1831) by Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), circa 1809/30. A full-length life-size portrait of the eldest daughter of Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick of Attingham (1745-1789) and Anna Vernon (1744-1797). She is standing with head turned to left, wearing dark crimson velvet dress with low neck and short sleeves. Her left hand is raised to her throat, a brown scarf falls over her right arm and holding book in left hand. She married, in Florence on 10th April 1793, Lord Charles Brudenell-Bruce (1773-1856), son of Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury and Susanna Hoare, whom she met in Italy when he saved her from a serious riding accident. He succeeded as 2nd Earl of Ailesbury in 1814 and was created Marquis in 1821. It was described by Lawrence's executor as 'abt 2/3' finished at the time of the artist's death.
Provenance
Sittings to Lawrence were recorded as in 1808 and 1812 (The painting was still in Lawrence’s studio on his death in 1830 and was claimed by Lord Ailesbury - it was recorded as only two thirds finished. A letter from Lord Ailesbury to Lord Berwick dated 6 October 1833, is relevant. Lord Berwick’s late sister’s portrait’ was delivered to Lord Ailesbury on the death of Lawrence, ‘without any expense being incurred’. He is about to send it to Attingham but asks whether he may before that have a copy made by Miss Carpenter (three-quarter length). He regrets that the figure is not more finished, but assumes that Lord Berwick would prefer ‘an unfinished Portrait of a distinguished Painter, to having it touched by a scholar of Lawrence’. In a second letter, of 16 October 1833, Lord Ailesbury writes that before his departure to Italy he is having the (unfinished original) portrait despatched to Attingham and that he is pleased with Miss Carpenter’s copy. It must therefore have been at a later date that it was completed); 3rd Lord Berwick collection: William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842); 1847 Catalogue of Paintings p.6; 1816 Inventory p.211;'Heirloom' 1947 Probate Valuation no.92; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Credit line
Attingham Park, The Berwick Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), publisher
References
Garlick 1989 Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence. A complete catalogue of the oil paintings, Oxford, 1989, no. 15