Mary Wollstonecraft
(1759-1797), Writer and feministRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 7 portraits
A political radical and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Wollstonecraft is now regarded as one of the founders of modern British feminism. As a writer she made a powerful case for emancipating and educating women. She was a member of the London-based radical intellectual circle that included Tom Paine and William Godwin, whom she later married. She welcomed the French Revolution and travelled to Paris where she witnessed Louis XVI going to the guillotine in 1793. Godwin's startlingly frank Memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft (1798) dominated the public perception of her for decades after her death. Tragically, she died after complications giving birth to her daughter Mary, who as an adult was an author and wrote Frankenstein (1818).
acrylic on paper collaged on panels, 2021-2022
On display in Room 33 on Floor 0 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 7145
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by William Ridley, published by Thomas Bellamy, after John Opie
stipple engraving, published 1 February 1796
NPG D2787
by James Heath, published by Daniel Isaac Eaton, after John Opie
stipple engraving, (circa 1797)
NPG D32605
by James Heath, published by Daniel Isaac Eaton, after John Opie
stipple engraving, (circa 1797)
NPG D14469
by John Chapman, after Unknown artist
stipple engraving, published 1798
NPG D7842
by Roy, after Unknown artist
etching and aquatint, after physionotrace, early 19th century
NPG D2788
Related People
- William Godwin (husband)
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (daughter)
- Sir Percy Florence Shelley, 3rd Bt (grandson)
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