Mrs. Fitzherbert

Twice widowed by age twenty-five, Maria Fitzherbert (born Smythe, 1756–1837) caught the attention of the young George, Prince of Wales, who was already scandalously entangled with Grace Dalrymple Elliott. Fitzherbert and the prince secretly married in 1785, when she was twenty-nine and he was twenty-three. The union caused an uproar due to her Catholic faith, and because it was conducted without the consent of the monarchy, it was deemed invalid. They continued in a morganatic marriage (a union in which she enjoyed no privileges of his titles) until his lawful marriage in 1795 to Caroline, Duchess of Brunswick. This fluidly painted, unfinished portrait exemplifies the artist's mature style and gives a sense of intimacy, as if she were only loosely dressed. It was painted around the time of their clandestine marriage and, according to an invoice, was delivered unfinished to the prince, whose portrait is presumably represented in the miniature suspended from the neckline of her dress.