1 OF 3

Portraits in the Characters of the Muses in the Temple of Apollo

1 of 3 portraits of Charlotte Lennox (née Ramsay)

by Richard Samuel
oil on canvas, exhibited 1779
52 in. x 61 in. (1321 mm x 1549 mm)
Purchased, 1972
Primary Collection
NPG 4905

Click on the links below to find out more:

Artistback to top

Richard Samuel (active 1770-died 1787). Artist of 2 portraits.

Sittersback to top

Anna Letitia Barbauld (née Aikin) (1743-1825), Poet and writer. Sitter in 6 portraits.
Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), Scholar and writer. Sitter associated with 9 portraits.
Elizabeth Griffith (1727-1793), Playwright and novelist. Sitter in 3 portraits.
Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807), Painter. Sitter in 7 portraits, Artist associated with 21 portraits.
Charlotte Lennox (née Ramsay) (1720-1804), Writer. Sitter in 3 portraits.
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge) (1731-1791), Historian and political polemicist. Sitter in 17 portraits.
Elizabeth Montagu (née Robinson) (1718-1800), Writer and leader of society. Sitter in 11 portraits.
Hannah More (1745-1833), Religious writer. Sitter in 11 portraits.
Elizabeth Ann Sheridan (née Linley) (1754-1792), Singer and writer. Sitter in 14 portraits.

This portraitback to top

In this unusual group portrait, Richard Samuel celebrated nine of Britain's artistic and intellectual women. He depicted them as 'Muses', ancient Greek goddesses who personified the arts and sciences. They wear classical-style robes and are assembled beneath a statue of Apollo, God of the arts. Many of the women in this portrait were Bluestockings - members of a network of female artists, writers and scholars. All except the literary critic and salon hostess Elizabeth Montagu earned a living from their work. The singer Elizabeth Ann Sheridan is in the centre, holding a lyre. The artist Angelica Kauffman sits at an easel. Other women include the historian Catharine Macaulay, the playwright and anti-slavery campaigner Hannah More and the classicist Elizabeth Carter.