Portrait of Elizabeth Malin, Housekeeper at the Royal Academy

Elizabeth Malin was the Royal Academy’s first housekeeper (also known as a “sweeper”). She worked at the RA from its foundation in 1768 until her death in 1794. Malin’s husband, John, was the RA’s first porter, and also worked as a life model, which was much better paid. In the first centuries at the RA, women were much more likely to be found cleaning or modelling than making art.