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Beatrice
Beatrice

Beatrice

Artist (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1806 - 1864)
Date1859
Mediumoil on panel
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsSight Size: Height: 65.2 cm, Width: 49.4 cm
Frame: Height: 89.9 cm, Width: 75.7 cm
AcquisitionPurchased in 1937 with income from the Webster Bequest.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationOn Display - Gallery 18
Object numberABDAG003217
Historic Title
  • Lady with the Coronet of Jasmine
About MeThis striking half-length figure painting represents Dante's Beatrice, but, in common with the Pre-Raphaelite single female subject, it also conveys a strong sense of the individual sitter and as such may be viewed as a portrait with a literary theme.

The painting was commissioned by the influential Victorian Prime Minister W.E. Gladstone and the model was Miss Maria Summerhayes, a fallen woman who was rescued by Gladstone. This female enchanted him, for he described her as "Full in the highest degree both of interest and beauty…Altogether she is no common specimen of womanhood!"

Dyce had represented the sitter as a pure, serene, ethereal being, belonging to another time and place and in this respect she is akin to his Madonnas.



More About Me
While this painting represents the famous Beatrice of Dante Alighieri’s affections, many painters of this era also focused on capturing the spirit and essence of the female sitter before them.
Exhibitions