Portrait of a Man, Possibly Sir Soulden Lawrence
Medium
watercolor on ivory in an amalgam frame
Dimensions
unframed: 3.2 × 3.1 cm · framed: 4.4 × 3.8 cm
Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Edward B. Greene Collection
Accession Number
1940.1219
Tags
About this artwork
This portrait is an excellent example of John Smart’s early work. The unknown sitter has blue eyes and wears a light blue coat embroidered in gold, a white waistcoat, and a high white collar with a lace frill down the front. He also dons a powdered wig—still fashionable in 1770. While the sitter’s cheeks are flushed with a delicate pink, his complexion does not have the ruddy quality so often seen in Smart’s later work. The intricate gold embroidery on the sitter’s jacket exemplifies the ornamen...