National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

When Thomas Sully painted fifteen-year-old Eliza Ridgely in the spring of 1818, he was widely regarded as America's leading artist. Particularly noted for his graceful images of women, he was a natural choice to paint this Baltimore merchant's daughter.

In painting Eliza, Sully emphasized her privileged social status as well as her delicate, youthful charm. Her family affluence is indicated by her up-to-the-minute hair style and dress, inspired by contemporary European designs in the neo-Grecian manner. The satin of her Empire gown is carefully described through fluid brushwork and brilliant highlights. Eliza, as a young lady of cultural accomplishment, posed with her European pedal harp. She idly plucks the harp strings and gazes dreamily into space, as if musing on the lyrical chord she strikes. A fiery sunset heightens the romantic reverie.

Although she may very well have possessed luminous eyes, arched brows, and a porcelain complexion, Miss Ridgely's figure has been greatly idealized. Sully, for the sake of fashionable elegance, exaggerated her legs to half again as long as any conceivably normal proportion. Sully once wrote, "From long experience I know that resemblance in a portrait is essential; but no fault will be found with the artist, at least by the sitter, if he improve the appearance."

Inscription

lower left on harp pedestal: TS (in monogram) 1818

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

The sitter's son, Charles Ridgely [1830-1872], Hampton, Towson, Maryland;[1] his son, Captain John Ridgely [1851-1938], Hampton, Towson, Maryland; his son, John Ridgely, Jr. [1882-1959], Hampton, Towson, Maryland; purchased 1945 by NGA.

[1] The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's father, Nicholas Ridgely, who received it in the early fall of 1818. Records at Hampton National Historic Site do not indicate when the portrait came to Hampton, but the most probable period was somewhere between January of 1828, when Eliza married John Ridgely, and December of 1829, when her father died. Eliza was the principal heir to her father's estate, and received everything apart from a few specific bequests. (See letter of 24 October 1997 from Lynn Dakin Hastings, Curator and Acting Superintendent of Hampton National Historic Site, in NGA curatorial files.)

Exhibition History

1818
Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1818, no. 112, as Full length Portrait of a Young Lady of Maryland.
1921
Loan Exhibition of Sully Portraits Owned in Maryland, The Maryland Institute and Municipal Art Society, Baltimore, 1921, no. 8, as Mrs. John Ridgely.
1933
Exhibition of Baltimore Owned Art Treasures, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1933, no. 42.
1940
Survey of American Painting, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1940, no. 110.
1945
250 Years of Painting in Maryland, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1945, no. 89.
1954
The One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition of The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1955, no. 32, repro.
1981
American Portraiture in the Grand Manner: 1720-1920, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1981-1982, no. 29, repro. (shown only in Los Angeles).
1983
Mr. Sully, Portrait Painter: The Works of Thomas Sully (1783-1872), National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1983, no. 28.
1993
Classical Taste in America, 1800-1840, Baltimore Museum of Art; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1993-1994, no. 216, repro. (cat. by Wendy A. Cooper).

Bibliography

1909
Hart 1909, no. 1408, 140.
1921
Biddle, Edward, and Mantle Fielding. The Life and Works of Thomas Sully (1783-1872). Philadelphia, 1921: no. 1474, 259.
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 140, color repro.
1959
Bouton, Margaret. American Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number One in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 22, color repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 327, repro.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 112, repro.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 243, repro.
1980
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 13, no. 8, color repro.
1981
Gerdts, William H. "Natural Aristocrats in a Democracy: 1810-1870." In American Portraiture in the Grand Manner: 1720-1920. Exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981: 35, 128, color repro. 130.
1981
Williams 1981, 87, repro. 88.
1982
Shipe, Bess Paterson. "Eliza Eichelberger Ridgely, 'The Lady with a Harp'." Maryland Historical Magazine 77, no. 3 (Fall 1982): 230-237.
1983
Fabian, Monroe H. Mr. Sully, Portrait Painter: The Works of Thomas Sully (1783-1872). Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1983: 70, repro. 71.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 390, no. 557, color repro.
1988
Wilmerding 1988 am Masterpiece, 62, no. 8, color repro.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 361, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 224, repro.
1993
Cooper, Wendy A. A Classical Taste in America 1800-1840. Exh. cat. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1993: 266-268, color repro. 267.
1993
Cooper, Wendy A. Classical Taste in America. Exh. cat. The Baltimore Museum of Art; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 1993:266-268, repro.
1994
Craven, Wayne. American Art: History and Culture. New York, 1994: 144, color fig. 10.11.
1994
Miller, Beth L. "The Ridgelys of Hampton: New Perspectives on Musical Life in Early-Nineteenth-Century Baltimore." Journal of Musicological Research 14 (1994): 35-54, fig. 1.
1995
Torcia, Robert Wilson. "Eliza Ridgely and the Ideal of American Womanhood, 1787-1820." Maryland Historical Magazine 90, no. 4 (Winter 1995): 405-423, illus.
1998
Adler, Shane. “Whiteness." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:939.
1998
Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 151-159, color repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 334, no. 268, color repro.

Related Works

Related Resources

  • Event Type
    Event Name
    March 1–June 1
    Mon, Tues, and Wed at 1:00
    March 5, 2012 at 2:00
    March 7, 2012 at 4:00
    East Building, Auditorium
    Name of docent
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
    60 minutes
    Registration for this event begins on April 1, 2012 at noon.
    Register for this event
    Download the program notes (100k)
  • Self-Guided Tour
    Italian Collection
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum