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Mrs. Abington as Thalia

Mrs. Abington as Thalia

Artist/Maker (Italian, 1727–1815)
after (English, 1742–1821)
Date1783
MediumStipple engraving
DimensionsImage: 9 1/4 × 7 1/8 in. (23.5 × 18.1 cm)
Plate: 10 7/8 × 8 7/16 in. (27.6 × 21.4 cm)
Sheet: 11 × 8 5/8 in. (27.9 × 21.9 cm)
Credit LineAnnie A. Wager Bequest
Object number1975.85
Status
Not on view
More Information
Francesco Bartolozzi's stipple engravings-a technique used to imitate chalk and wash drawings-were particularly popular in England. Cosway, best known for his painted miniatures of aristocratic women, here portrays one of eighteenth-century London's most famous actresses, Frances "Fanny" Abington. The attributes of an ivy wreath, shepherd's staff, and comic mask identify her as a personification of Thalia, the muse of comedy and idyllic poetry.
Exhibition History
English Political Portraits of the Eighteenth Century
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 10, 1932 - June 7, 1932 )
Investigating Romanticism, 1750-1850: A Century of Contrasts
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (October 28, 1980 - November 23, 1980 )
Musica Humana: A Dialogue between Music and the Visual Arts
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (March 26, 1996 - June 30, 1996 )
Out of Albion: British Art from the Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 26, 2008 - December 23, 2008 )
Performers: Dancers, Actors, and Musicians
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 6, 2012 - December 23, 2012 )
Collections
  • European
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.