Family Group on a Terrace
c. 1740
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
94.6 × 120.6 cm (37 1/2 × 47 1/2 in.); Framed: 105.5 × 130.4 × 8.3 cm (41 1/2 × 51 3/8 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111616
Art Historical Context
John Theodore Heins, Sr. (1697–1764), a German-born portrait painter active in Norwich, England, captures domestic harmony in *Family Group on a Terrace* (c. 1740). This oil-on-canvas portrait depicts an affluent family posed on a terrace, likely showcasing their social standing during the Georgian era. Measuring nearly four by five feet, the work exemplifies the intimate "conversation piece" style popular among Britain's rising merchant class, blending formality with relaxed familial bonds. Painted in the Rococo-influenced tradition of early 18th-century British portraiture, Heins employs oi...