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Notes
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The sculptor Anne Seymour Damer and the political hostesses Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and Elizabeth Viscountess Melbourne are here depicted as the three witches from Macbeth. All three women loved amateur dramatics and were involved in productions at the private theatre at Althorp, Georgiana's country estate. Whereas Lady Melbourne had been friends with Anne Seymour Damer since the early 1770s, the friendship with Georgiana was fairly recent and this pastel may in part be related to Melbourne's desire to publicise their friendship. Their portrayal as Macbeth's witches also hints at their political influence, as the witches in the play encourage Macbeth to seize power. From 1776, Georgiana was the hostess of the most influential political salon in England and these three women were keen supporters of Charles James Fox, who was probably Georgiana's lover.
The composition has no parallel in Gardner's oeuvre and it is assumed that either Damer or Melbourne suggested the design. Melbourne is also thought to have commissioned the work which has descended in her family. Although there is no evidence of its being exhibited at the time, contemporaries clearly knew of its existence. It is mentioned in Lady Mary Coke|'s journal where she wrote in 1775 of a drawing of 'the Duchess of Devonshire, Lady Melburn, and Mrs Damer all being drawn in one picture in the Characters of the three Witches in Macbeth … They have chosen that Scene where they compose their Cauldron, but instead of "finger of Birth-strangled babe, etc" their Cauldron is composed of roses and carnations and I daresay they think their charmes more irresistible than all the magick of the Witches'.
National Portrait Gallery, London
London
Title
The Three Witches from 'Macbeth'
Date
1775
Medium
gouache & chalk on paper
Measurements
H 94 x W 79 cm
Accession number
6903
Acquisition method
accepted in lieu of tax by HM Government and allocated to the National Portrait Gallery, 2011
Work type
Watercolour
National Portrait Gallery, London
St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England
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