Images(2)

Portrait of Ann Taylor Roberts (1803-1832)

Date1820

Artist William Dunlap

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Norfolk

MediumOil on canvas

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Donnelly; conservation funded in part by Lex Reeves

Object number2019-126,A&B

DescriptionThree quarter length portrait of a young woman playing a harp. She is depicted in front of a window, through which can be seen a landscape scene of her family’s home on the Elizabeth River. A dark red-brown drape is painted in the upper right corner between the sitter and the window. The sitter is wearing a white dress with a gauze shawl. Her dark blonde hair is pulled back into a bun with curls framing her face. The portrait survives in its original frame.Label TextIn 1816, 13-year-old Ann Taylor Roberts of Norfolk, Virginia, wrote to her cousin in England that “I am thought a pretty good Performer on the Harp and Piano[,] can speak French, and am learning to paint.” Just four years later, artist William Dunlap noted in his diary, “Engage to paint a portrait sitter visiting James River of Miss Roberts $75 size playing Harp.” Ann is depicted in Dunlap’s likeness displaying her musical abilities on an imported French harp. Her family home is visible through the window.