Gainsborough's Hon. Frances Duncombe

Innumerable pearlsline the blue satin dress of the Honourable Frances Duncombe, who wears abright red jewel on her chest, possibly a ruby or garnet. Frances was raised byher stepmother in the house of the Earl of Radnor and was betrothed to theearl's eldest son. However, her engagement was broken off when the familydiscovered her affair with a John Bowater, whom she married in 1778. Exactlywhen and why this monumental portrait was commissioned from Gainsborough isunknown. After spending some years living in Germany (rumoured to have had anaffair with Archduke Maximilian Franz, brother of the French queen, MarieAntoinette), Frances returned to England and lived with this portrait in herfamily home, Old Dalby Hall, in Leicestershire, until her death, in 1827. Mizrahi's creativecontribution adds greatly to this book about this iconic painting of afashionable lady. He mentions the moment of first catching a glimpse of thework when seeing it unframed. "I gasp. Frances Duncombe looks every bit as gorgeous unframed, if not even moreso for the vulnerability."

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