Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 4 John Singleton Copley Questions: |
Mrs. Nathaniel Allen
Aside from showing Mrs. Allen's status, Copley's main goal was to document what she looked like. He painted her face with no attempt to IDEALIZE her. Her well defined features-broad forehead, full lips, strong pointed nose, and heavy eyebrows-give her a masculine appearance and her piercing eyes boldly confront the viewer. She looks very serious.
Although Mrs. Allen's face is so naturalistic, her figure, pose and elegant clothing are not her own. Copley drew them from an engraving that reproduced an English noblewoman's portrait made several years earlier by the painter William Hogarth. Mrs. Allen may have chosen this particular image from a selection of prints of stylish English portraits.
Since the engraving was black and white,
Copley had to add color for his
painting. The COOL
COLORS, blue and green, dominate the portrait, but
golden and pink touches add a note of warmth.
Copley modeled the figure in a wide
range of darks and lights to convey strong sense of volume.
He combined varying shades of white and gray with only
touches of color to represent the textures of her soft
leather gloves, lace ribbons, the pearl pins on her sleeve,
and the sheer chemise over her shoulders. He used
especially deep shadows and white highlights to capture the
play of light reflections on the full sleeves and hoop skirt
of her blue satin dress. Based on the same engraving as the
pose and dress, the scenery behind Mrs.
Allen provides no insight into her life. A blue and
pink-laced sky with trees below fill the painting's left
side. To the right stands a tall leafy tree, lightly
rendered in pale greens, browns, and golds.
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