Portrait of a mother and child

Portrait of a mother and child

John Linnell

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This delicately rendered study demonstrates Linnell’s mastery of intimate portraiture, a genre popularized in England in the eighteenth century that included miniatures painted on ivory as well as drawings. Here, the artist enhanced the lifelike effect by applying tiny touches of color to the eyes, lips, and cheeks of the unidentified sitters. Linnell started his career as a landscape painter but after he married turned to portraiture as a more reliable source of income for his family. He also supported fellow artist William Blake by commissioning engravings and watercolors, providing his friend with a steady income late in life.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of a mother and childPortrait of a mother and childPortrait of a mother and childPortrait of a mother and childPortrait of a mother and child

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.