Lady Caroline Spencer, later Viscountess Clifden, and her sister, Lady Elizabeth Spencer (1786-1792)
Lady Caroline Spencer, later Viscountess Clifden, and her sister, Lady Elizabeth Spencer (1786-1792). George Romney (English, 1734–1802). Oil on canvas. The Huntington This portrait showcases the attractions and accomplishments of Ladies Caroline and Elizabeth Spencer. Begun when the sitters were aged twenty-one and twenty-two respectively, the commission coincided with a flurry of marriage proposals. Employing a convention familiar in double portraits of sisters, Romney contrasts Lady Caroline’s facility for drawing with her younger sister Elizabeth’s musical abilities. Genteel women and men were expected to practice both of these elegant arts, and the duke and duchess provided instruction for their daughters and sons alike. According to a newspaper report of 1787, the elder Spencer sisters were particularly proficient artists -- source link
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