A Brother of the Artist Painting a Portrait of a Lady

A miniaturist is sitting at a worktable on which he has placed a portable folding easel. He is painting a portrait on a sheet of ivory fastened to the easel with a band. Next to this is his small palette. A glass of water for washing brushes and diluting paints stands beside the palette on the table. Plaster casts of statues from ancient times, alluding to the artist’s study of ideal proportions, are visible in the background. The easel is upholstered in green, a colour with a relaxing effect on the eye. In the painting, the artist has altered the actual arrangement of people and objects in his studio. His model would have sat in front of him rather than next to him. He himself would have sat at the window with the light streaming from the left. In the miniature, the light is coming from the right, and the painter’s hand would cast a shadow over his work. 

The identity of the painter and his sitter could not be reliably established. The traditional interpretation is that it depicts a brother of the artist and the artist’s sister- in-law. Neither Lorenzo Theweneti (c. 1791–1878) nor his younger brother Michael (c. 1796–1874) was married. Their youngest brother, Edward (c. 1805–1869), was married but born around 1805 – too late for him to be depicted here with his wife. The three brothers were born in Bucharest but lived and worked together in Bath – first as portrait and miniature painters and later as photographers.

B. P.