 |
| Francisco Goya Doña Isabel de Porcel ca. 1805 oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
 |
| John Opie Elizabeth Searle as Miranda in The Tempest ca. 1807 oil on canvas Tabley House, Cheshire |
 |
| Thomas Lawrence Henrietta Maria Hill, Marchioness of Ailesbury 1809 oil on canvas National Trust, Attingham Park, Shropshire |
 |
| John Linnell Miss Puxley 1826 oil on canvas Yale Center for British Art |
 |
| William Etty Louisa Vaughan née Rolls ca. 1835 oil on canvas National Museum Cardiff, Wales |
 |
| Filippo Agricola Ellen Adderly, Viscountess Dillon of Costello-Gallin ca. 1840-45 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire |
 |
| Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Mademoiselle de Foudras 1872 oil on canvas Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
A Visit
Come for duty's sake (as girls do) we watch
The sly very old woman wile away from her pious
And stagger-blind friend, their daily split of gin.
She pours big drinks. We think of what
Has crumpled, folded, slumped her flesh in
And muddied her once tumbling blood that, young,
Sped her, threaded with brave power: a Tower,
Now Babel, then of ivory, of the Shulamite,
Collapsed to this keen dame moving among
Herself. She hums, she plays with used bright
Ghosts, makes real dolls, and drinking sings Come here
My child, and feel it, dear. A crooking finger
Shows how hot the oven is.
(Also she is alive with hate.
Also she is afraid of hell. Also, we wish
We might, illiberal, uncompassionate,
Run from her smell, her teeth in the dish.)
Even dying, her life riots in her. We stand stock still
Though aswarm with itches under her disreputable smiles.
We manage to mean well. We endure, and more.
We learn time's pleasure, catch our future and its cure.
We're dear blood daughters to this every hag, and near kin
To any after this of those our mirrors tell us foolishly envy us,
Presuming us, who are young, to be beautiful, kind, and sure.
– Marie Ponsot (1958)
 |
| Edgar Degas Elena Carafa 1875 oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
 |
| Édouard Manet Au Bal – Marguerite de Conflans en toilette de bal ca. 1870-80 oil on canvas Courtauld Gallery, London |
 |
| Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown Jane Morris ca. 1870-80 oil on canvas National Trust, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton |
 |
| John Everett Millais Mrs Joseph Chamberlain 1891 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
 |
| John Collier Lady Darling 1892 oil on canvas Southampton City Art Gallery |
 |
| Hubert von Herkomer Mrs Walter Derham 1892 oil on canvas Bristol Museum and Art Gallery |
 |
| Michele Gordigiani Lady Gertrude Lucia Egerton, Countess of Albemarle 1894 oil on canvas National Trust, Tatton Park, Cheshire |
 |
| Giovanni Boldini Gertrude Elizabeth née Blood, Lady Colin Campbell ca. 1897 oil on canvas National Portrait Gallery, London |