Portrait of Frances Anne

Artwork: Portrait of Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry

Artist: Dubois-Drahonet, Alexandre-Jean

Created: 1831

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 268.6 x 178.4 cm

Location: V&A Museum, London, UK

———————————————

“The magnificent portrait was painted to commemorate the attendance of Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry at the coronation of William IV in Westminster Abbey on the 8 September 1831. The jewels sewn to her dress include the turquoises she bought from Count Palffy in Vienna, and, at the bottom of her dress, a large pink topaz given to her by Tsar Alexander I of Russia. These can be recognised among the Londonderry Jewels, which are on luan to the V&A from the Marquess of Londonderry and are displayed in their current settings in the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery.

Frances Anne Vane-Tempest (1800-1865) was the only child of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, Bt. (1771-1813) and his wife, Anne Catherine MacDonnell (d. 1834), Countess of Antrim in her own right. On her father’s death in 1813, Frances Anne became the richest heiress of her generation. In 1819 she married Charles William, Baron Stewart, then British Ambassador in Vienna. He was half-brother to Viscount Castlereagh, the Foreign Secretary and on the latter’s death, became 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. Following his marriage to Frances Anne, he changed his surname to Vane.” (V&A)

#1001andmore #webgalleryofvisualart #victoriaandalbertmuseum

Photos by @art_love_enjoy_life