Elizabeth Linley, Mrs Richard Brinsley Sheridan as Saint Cecilia

Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1775

Height:

136.0 cm  (53 9/16 in.)

Width:

110.0 cm  (43 5/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

From the Waddesdon museum website: Full-length portait of Mrs Elizabeth Linley Sheridan as Saint Cecilia. Elizabeth sits facing the left, with her left side in profile, on a very low stool before a pipe organ, which she plays. She wears a simple belted muslin dress with a gauze collar. There is an open book on the organ, but Elizabeth appears to stare at clouds and a ray of light that materialise above the organ. Behind, there are two young angels singing from a book they hold open. Elizabeth Linley Sheridan was a famous singer and writer. Several of her contemporaries described her voice as divine and the theatre director David Garrick nicknamed her 'the Saint'. Joshua Reynolds elevated her character by showing her as St Cecilia, the patron saint of music.

People as subjects

St. Cecilia (Musician portrait)
Linley, Elizabeth Ann (1754-1792) (Musician portrait)

Iconclass

11HH(CECILIA)111
St. Cecilia making music and/or singing

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Positive organ [2268]

Musical works

illegible music notation
open music book

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1
image link 2

RIdIM record id

6294