Monday, September 28, 2009
"Mysterious Painting of a Harpist"
When I had the following painting by Sully up in the Photoshop screen, Julia exclaimed, "I've seen that painting before!" I replied, "Of course you have, we saw it at the National Gallery of Art!"
Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely by Thomas Sully (American, 1783-1872) oil on canvas, 1818 Overall: 214.5 x 142.5 cm (84 7/16 x 56 1/8 in. Gift of Maude Monell Vetlesen 1945.9.1
Alice Morse Earle refers to this piece in _Two Centuries of Costume in America 1620-1820, Volume 2_:
She offered a grayscale image of it. But the photo from 1903 is not very clear. Also she gave a date of 1805 for its creation. Did Sully do two versions?
Maryland Historical Society mentions "Eliza E. [Ridgely] Ridgely's (1803-1867) papers". Ms. Earle can't have the right date, for Eliza would have been only two years old then. The Maryland Historical Society page refers to Sully's painting of her, as well, "a portrait", not 'two portraits'.
Finally, my search revealed the answer. This mansion, now part of Hampton National Park, has been perserved as it was then in the early 1880's. "Jlee008" explains:
The mystery is solved!
(I also located at Flicker the copy which hangs in the mansion's center hall!)
Taken by 'hikerpark' September 21, 2008
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