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Hester Lynch Piozzi (née Salusbury, later Mrs. Thrale)

1785–86
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Hester Thrale’s face radiates intelligence and determination. The sitter kept a diary of the 1775 trip to France she took with her husband and Samuel Johnson, the famed British lexicographer. While Johnson’s journal of their experiences at Versailles is terse, Thrale recounted her experiences with a delightful immediacy and a keen sense of perception. She described the apartments in the palace as having "effaced every Sight my Eyes have yet seen for Riches, Pomp, & Beauty."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hester Lynch Piozzi (née Salusbury, later Mrs. Thrale)
  • Date: 1785–86
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Unframed: 29 3/4 × 24 3/4 in. (75.6 × 62.9 cm)
    Framed: 34 13/16 × 29 5/8 × 2 3/8 in. (88.5 × 75.2 × 6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 4942)
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts