History's Beauties: Women and the National Portrait Gallery, 1856-1900

Abstract

As an institution founded to illustrate ‘the civil, ecclesiastical, or literary history of the country’, it might have been assumed that women scarcely figured in the newly founded National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in the mid-nineteenth century. However, as revealed in Lara Perry's insightful new book, its publication neatly coincident with the Gallery's 150th anniversary celebrations, this was far from being the case. Perry offers analysis of the 100 or so female portraits acquired by the NPG before 1900, moving thematically between topics such as royal women, accomplished women writers and ‘beauties’. However, she expands her remit also to explore the influence of women who moved in the social circles of the trustees; the role of women as donors and vendors of portraits; the female artists represented in the collection; and, finally, those women who made up a significant proportion of visitors to the Gallery. It is a fascinating account and...

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