The 18th century was an exciting period of great discovery in Britain. Joseph Wright of Derby was famous for painting nocturnal scenes with specific light sources such as candles, lamps and fires, an interest that
developed from time the artist spent in Rome in 1774 absorbing the lessons of the masters and producing night scenes with moonlit effects.
A true artist of the Enlightenment, some of Wright’s most outstanding group works portray the home as a laboratory for learning, children bearing witness to the scientific experiments that so absorbed those in search
of knowledge.
Wright was also an accomplished portraitist, mainly serving the factory owners and merchants of the Midlands. The Honourable Mrs Boyle is a particularly sensitive portrait, the soft tones of the flesh complemented
by the delicate handling of the costume. Her silvery green dress, covered by a stiff lace shawl, is similar to that worn by other sitters of Wright’s, and although the painting is undated, a similar style is worn
in Allan Ramsay’s famous portrait of his second wife, painted in the second half of the 1760s. Mrs Boyle’s face is beautifully painted in a manner not dissimilar to Allan Ramsay’s, the artist capturing the slightly
hesitant expression of a sitter somewhat embarrassed by this concentrated gaze.
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