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Description: | Pastel on paper. Dressed in black and white, in mourning for her dead husband, the sitter in this portrait stares past the viewer, a delicate crêpe bonnet covering her silver hair.
This pastel portrait shows Anne Thornton, former wife of John Thornton of Southwark, a wealthy merchant. She died on 12 March 1799 and was buried at Epsom in Surrey. ‘An Account of the Death of Mrs. A. Thornton’, written by her son, was published in 1800 and a second edition followed in 1811. An engraved version of this portrait by John Russell was used as the frontispiece to the second edition. The book describes the final illness and death of Mrs Thornton in detail, presenting the account as a representation of ‘the art of dying well’ and urging the reader to follow the Christian faith in readiness for death. | Subjects: | Mrs Anne Thornton female portrait 18th century costume cap woman | Temporal: | c.1798; 1778/1818 | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | John Russell | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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