DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66024#0052
i6 ANGELICA KAUFFMANN
may have been the reasons for it. Angelica herself was delighted at the pros-
pect of seeing England, and under such favourable circumstances. She at
once determined to accept the invitation of the wife of the English Minister,
who was intending to go to London while her husband made his way to Turkey,
and arrangements were made for her father to go to Morbegno while the daughter
accompanied her new friend to England.
Rossi tells us, in his biography, that, although Angelica’s name was becoming
well known in Italy, the Italians were not giving her many commissions, and
were paying very poorly for such work as she carried out for them. He
explains that it was to the English visitors1 whom she met in Naples, Rome
and Venice that she was indebted for her best commissions, and that they
were attracted, not only by her charming personality, but by her undoubted skill
in portraiture. That being so, her desire to see more of the English, and to
see them in their own country, was only natural, and she grasped at the
opportunity afforded her.
One of her biographers, Oppermann, accuses her at this time of forsaking
a lover who would have made her far happier than any of the titled or rich
husbands to whom she aspired; and another, Steinberg, speaks with annoyance,
saying that she sacrificed art to the love of pleasure and the greed for money.
That she was poor at this time is quite certain, and the desire to see England,
and to paint portraits of Englishmen and Englishwomen, was therefore a great
inducement; but we have no definite information respecting any lover such as
the one to whom Oppermann alludes, and it should be noted Rossi does not
mention him at all.
It has been suggested that the person to whom Oppermann refers was
Nathaniel Dance, afterwards Sir Nathaniel Holland. He certainly met
Angelica in Rome, and appears to have begun almost at once to pay her atten-
tions, which for a while she accepted quite graciously, so much so that, in the
opinion of many visitors in Rome, it was decided that they were about to marry.
Dance undoubtedly became very fond of her; in fact, Farington, in his Diary,
says that “ his passion for her was extreme.” Probably she did not recipro-
cate his affection to any fervent extent. He was more in love with her than
she was with him, and, overjoyed at the prospect of coming to England, she
seems to have let him drift. When, however, she was in England he continued
his attentions to her, but by that time she had met Reynolds, and, finding that
he was attracted to her, began to have anticipations that he would propose,
and therefore became cool and indifferent to the suit of Dance. Farington
seems quite clear about this. He implies in very definite fashion that it
was expectation that perhaps Reynolds would offer his hand to her that led her
1 We possess an interesting proof that Angelica painted the portrait of at least one English-
man before she came to England with Lady Wentworth. In Lord Strafford’s collection there
is a fully signed portrait, 4 ft. by 3 ft., representing, half length, John Byng, the third son of
the Hon. Robert Byng. He died in 1764, and this picture must therefore have been painted
while she was in Italy.
may have been the reasons for it. Angelica herself was delighted at the pros-
pect of seeing England, and under such favourable circumstances. She at
once determined to accept the invitation of the wife of the English Minister,
who was intending to go to London while her husband made his way to Turkey,
and arrangements were made for her father to go to Morbegno while the daughter
accompanied her new friend to England.
Rossi tells us, in his biography, that, although Angelica’s name was becoming
well known in Italy, the Italians were not giving her many commissions, and
were paying very poorly for such work as she carried out for them. He
explains that it was to the English visitors1 whom she met in Naples, Rome
and Venice that she was indebted for her best commissions, and that they
were attracted, not only by her charming personality, but by her undoubted skill
in portraiture. That being so, her desire to see more of the English, and to
see them in their own country, was only natural, and she grasped at the
opportunity afforded her.
One of her biographers, Oppermann, accuses her at this time of forsaking
a lover who would have made her far happier than any of the titled or rich
husbands to whom she aspired; and another, Steinberg, speaks with annoyance,
saying that she sacrificed art to the love of pleasure and the greed for money.
That she was poor at this time is quite certain, and the desire to see England,
and to paint portraits of Englishmen and Englishwomen, was therefore a great
inducement; but we have no definite information respecting any lover such as
the one to whom Oppermann alludes, and it should be noted Rossi does not
mention him at all.
It has been suggested that the person to whom Oppermann refers was
Nathaniel Dance, afterwards Sir Nathaniel Holland. He certainly met
Angelica in Rome, and appears to have begun almost at once to pay her atten-
tions, which for a while she accepted quite graciously, so much so that, in the
opinion of many visitors in Rome, it was decided that they were about to marry.
Dance undoubtedly became very fond of her; in fact, Farington, in his Diary,
says that “ his passion for her was extreme.” Probably she did not recipro-
cate his affection to any fervent extent. He was more in love with her than
she was with him, and, overjoyed at the prospect of coming to England, she
seems to have let him drift. When, however, she was in England he continued
his attentions to her, but by that time she had met Reynolds, and, finding that
he was attracted to her, began to have anticipations that he would propose,
and therefore became cool and indifferent to the suit of Dance. Farington
seems quite clear about this. He implies in very definite fashion that it
was expectation that perhaps Reynolds would offer his hand to her that led her
1 We possess an interesting proof that Angelica painted the portrait of at least one English-
man before she came to England with Lady Wentworth. In Lord Strafford’s collection there
is a fully signed portrait, 4 ft. by 3 ft., representing, half length, John Byng, the third son of
the Hon. Robert Byng. He died in 1764, and this picture must therefore have been painted
while she was in Italy.