Johan Joseph Zoffany, 1733–1810, German, active in Britain (from 1760)
Title:
The Gore Family with George, third Earl Cowper
Date:
ca. 1775
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
31 x 38 1/2 inches (78.7 x 97.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.87
Gallery Label:
This remarkable conversation piece was commissioned by George, third Earl Cowper, to celebrate his recent engagement to Hannah Anne Gore. In 1774, Charles Gore, represented playing the cello, took his wife and three daughters to Florence, where the sixteen-year-old Hannah met Lord Cowper, an English expatriate living in Italy. The fictive history painting in the background shows Hercules, emblematic of virtue, driving Envy from the Temple of Hymen. The theme of this painting was perhaps an oblique reference to the necessary ending of Lord Cowper’s liaisons with Florentine women, and the theme of music-making further implies the marital harmony that awaits the couple. The background landscape provides a view of the Tuscan hills, suggesting that the setting is Lord Cowper’s villa at Fiesole, just outside Florence. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
