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Margaret (‘Marguerite’) Power (1789–1849) was a famous beauty who married Charles, 2nd Viscount Mountjoy, created Earl of Blessington in 1822. This portrait was exhibited in the same year at the Royal Academy when, according to Byron, it ‘set all London raving’. Later Lady Blessington became a renowned novelist and literary editor. Together with her companion Alfred, comte d’Orsay, she established a famous salon at Gore House, Kensington. This was attended by the 4th Marquess of Hertford who is said to have met the future Napoleon III there.

The Wallace Collection

London

Title

Margaret, Countess of Blessington

Date

1822

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 91.5 x W 67 cm

Accession number

P558

Acquisition method

acquired by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, 1849; bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace, 1897

Work type

Painting

The Wallace Collection

Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, Greater London W1U 3BN England

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Artist or maker

Thomas Lawrence

1769–1830

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