Great Englishwomen: An Historical Reading Book for SchoolsSynge, M. B. (Margaret Bertha)
History
Great Englishwomen: An Historical Reading Book for Schools
Synge, M. B. (Margaret Bertha)
Women -- Great Britain -- Biography
"Mr. Reynolds is the first of painters here," she wrote to her father in
Germany. She admired his colouring so much that she became his pupil, and
the great artist was delighted with her, not only as a clever painter, but
as a woman. He painted her portrait, she painted his. On the establishment
of the Royal Academy, Angelica Kaufmann was made a member. It is said
that Sir Joshua Reynolds wanted her to be his wife; be that as it may, we
soon after find Angelica living in Golden Square, some way from her old
home. She was very popular; no large evening party was complete without
her; the world of fashion, the world of art, all sought her society, and
her praises were sung throughout the country. She painted the young Prince
of Wales, afterwards George IV., and other members of the royal family,
which made her trebly popular.
Before beginning a portrait Angelica would scan the features before her
closely, she would wait till the sitters had arranged themselves in
natural positions, and then, as truthfully as she could, she would paint
them. She was making her fortune rapidly; her father had come over to live
with her, and life seemed to go on very happily for her till she was
twenty-six. Then she married a man calling himself Count Horn, handsome,
clever, amusing; but three weeks after it was discovered that the _real_
Count Horn had arrived in England, and that the man who had married
Angelica was only the Count's footman, who had taken his master's name.
This was a terrible blow to Angelica and her father; for a long time she
seemed bordering on despair, and could not even go on painting. Her
husband went abroad, Angelica never saw him again, and he died some years
after. At last her friends roused her, and persuaded her to take up her
brushes again, and she threw herself into her work once more.
As time wore on, John Kaufmann grew old and infirm, and the doctors said
he must go abroad. Angelica was tired of London society, weary of London
fogs and mists, and she had long been yearning for her beloved Italy. So
they left England, and though it cost Angelica many pangs to leave the
friends who had been so kind to her, she was very thankful to be in a
sunny climate once more, under the blue Italian skies.
In Venice she painted several well-known pictures on historical subjects;
they were eagerly bought at high prices, and are now to be seen in
different parts of Europe.
After the death of her father, Angelica took up her abode in Rome; she
would get up early, take up her palette and brush, and paint on till
sunset in winter, till nearly six in the summer. In the evening, when she
could no longer see to paint, she would go out and see her friends, and
several nights in the week she would open her rooms to receive visitors. A
hall, filled with statues and busts, led to her studio and other rooms,
where hung her pictures by the great masters, heads by Vandyke and
Rembrandt, her own portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and many other
pictures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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