John Singleton Copley | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

John Singleton Copley, American, 1738–1815
Mrs. John Winthrop (Hannah Fayerweather), 1773
Oil on canvas; 35 1/2 x 28 3/4 in. (125.7 x 101.6 cm)
Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1931 (31.109)

Copley portrayed Hannah Winthrop's face, clothing, and setting with great care and skill, but the most telling objects in the picture seem to be the nectarine branch she holds in her left hand and the piece of fruit in her right. The vivid focus on the nectarine, a recently improved variety, suggests that it bears a symbolic relationship to the sitter's quest for self-improvement. In John Locke's theories of education, one's moral self was thought to be a clean slate awaiting inscription by life's education. Here, Mrs. Winthrop holds the sprig like a writing instrument on the surface of the empty table that bears her reflection, an allusion to her own life as an act of self-creation.
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Photograph Credits


	John Singleton Copley, American, 1738–1815 Mrs. John Winthrop (Hannah Fayerweather), 1773 Oil on canvas; 35 1/2 x 28 3/4 in. (125.7 x 101.6 cm) Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1931 (31.109)
Copley portrayed Hannah Winthrop's face, clothing, and setting with great care and skill, but the most telling objects in the picture seem to be the nectarine branch she holds in her left hand and the piece of fruit in her right. The vivid focus on the nectarine, a recently improved variety, suggests that it bears a symbolic relationship to the sitter's quest for self-improvement. In John Locke's theories of education, one's moral self was thought to be a clean slate awaiting inscription by life's education. Here, Mrs. Winthrop holds the sprig like a writing instrument on the surface of the empty table that bears her reflection, an allusion to her own life as an act of self-creation. Click on the image to see a larger version of the painting. To look at another painting, go back to the main screen.