Ann Wilson (née Harrison) and Her Daughter, Sybill
George Romneybetween 1776 and 1777
Yale Center for British Art
New Haven, CT, United States
Sibyll, the young girl in this portrait, was the only child of Anne and George Wilson, early patrons of Romney. Sibyll died in 1773, aged just six, and her sorrowful parents commissioned this tender commemorative portrait of her as if she had returned to console her grieving mother. The portrait was delayed by Romney’s sojourn in Italy between 1773 and 1775 and was probably not finished until 1777. Its austere, sculptural quality betrays his study of ancient funerary marbles while in Rome.
Gallery label for Love, Life, Death, and Desire: An Installation of the Center's Collections (Yale Center for British Art, 2020-11-01 – 2021-02-28)
- Title: Ann Wilson (née Harrison) and Her Daughter, Sybill
- Creator: George Romney, 1734–1802, British
- Creator Lifespan: 1734/1802
- Creator Nationality: British
- Creator Gender: male
- Date Created: between 1776 and 1777
- Physical Dimensions: 49 x 39 1/2 inches (124.5 x 100.3 cm) Frame: 50 1/2 × 49 inches (128.3 × 124.5 cm)
- Subject Keywords: dress (costume), chemise dress, shawl, shawls, sash, family, woman, mourning, memory, Neoclassical, daughter, child, mother, girl, stonework, portrait
- External Link: See this work of art on the Yale Center for British Art website
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Repository Name: Yale Center for British Art
- Credit Line: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
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