Portrait of a Lady
- Artist: Francis Cotes
- Date: 1768
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1267 x 1016 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the "Portrait of a Lady" by Francis Cotes. Painted in 1768, this oil on canvas is a study in 18th‑century fashion rather than psychological depth. The sitter—whose identity remains a mystery—sits on a garden bench, her posture deliberate and slightly theatrical. She’s dressed in a cream and pink silk “sacque,” a fashionable French‑inspired style that was all the rage on both sides of the Channel. The lace, ribbon bows and ruffled sleeves form a decorative frame around her, echoing the pink roses to her left and the white foxgloves behind her. The colour palette is deliberately coordinated: the woman’s pale complexion mirrors the pink of her gown, a subtle nod to the period’s beauty ideals.
Cotes signed the work on a tree trunk: “F Cotes RA px 1768,” a proud declaration that he was one of the Royal Academy’s founding members that same year. Although the portrait has been linked to the courtesan Kitty Fisher, that theory is now dismissed; the sitter is more likely a member of the Yorke family, once in the possession of the Earl of Hardwicke. This painting is a snapshot of the era’s obsession with appearance and status, all wrapped in lush, ornamental detail.
See it in person
Portrait of a Lady is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
