Isabella Wolff (1803–15): Artwork and History

Isabella Wolff (1803–15) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Sir Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769-1830).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Produced over the course of 12 years, this portrait depicts Isabella Wolff, one of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s most intimate friends, contemplating a printed image of the Delphic Sibyl from Michelangelo’s famous Sistine Chapel ceiling. Wolff’s serpentine pose cleverly echoes another Sibyl from that same work. The Sibyls were priestesses of Classical legend who made enigmatic judgments and prophecies. They were often pictured according to Western fantasies of the Near East, hence Wolff’s elaborate turban here. Lawrence was famed for his ability to evoke the surface effects and textures of clothing; that talent is on full display in Wolff’s shimmering satin gown.

Object facts

• Title: Isabella Wolff
• Date: 1803–15
• Artist attribution: Sir Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769-1830)
• Place of origin: England
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 128.2 × 102.4 cm (50 1/2 × 40 5/16 in.); Framed: 156.2 × 130.5 cm (61 1/2 × 51 3/8 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1922.4461

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Kimball Collection

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.