English school; circa 1760.

English school; circa 1760,
"Portrait of a lady".
Oil on canvas.
Frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 76 x 64 cm; 97 x 85 cm (frame).
Female portrait in which the author presents a middle-aged lady, who wears a sumptuous costume with wide neckline. The smooth qualities of the skin harmonize with the rest, leaving no room for detail with precise pictorial touches. The dark background enhances the figure and the elegance of her attire, the lady looks directly at the viewer with a faint smile, but without losing a regal and haughty attitude. In a flirtatious way, her neckline shows a floral arrangement in the center. This attitude shows the artist's interest in capturing the personality of the sitter.
As in the rest of Europe, in England the portrait became in the eighteenth century the leading genre of painting par excellence, as it began a growing development around it, as a result of the new social structures that were implemented in the Western world throughout this century, embodying the ultimate expression of the transformation of taste and mentality of the new clientele, emerged between the nobility and the wealthy gentry, who would take the reins of history in this period. While official circles gave preponderance to other artistic genres, such as history painting, and the incipient collecting encouraged the profusion of costume paintings, portraiture monopolized the demand for painting destined for the more private sphere, as a reflection of the value of the individual in the new society. This genre embodies the permanent presence of the image of its protagonists, to be enjoyed in the intimacy of a studio, in the daily warmth of a family cabinet or presiding over the main rooms of the house.