The Artist's Wife in a Red Cape

Robert Braithwaite Martineau (1844–1930)

c. 1868

Oil on canvas

14 x 11 inches (35.5 x 27.9 cm).

Collection of Manchester City Art Galleries, accession no. 1951.10.7

This portrait sketch of Maria Wheeler Martineau (1840-1918) shows her in frontal view with her head tipped slightly downwards and to the right. Her dark hair is parted in the middle and tied back behind her head. She is wearing a red cape over a green dress. The background has been left unfinished. Because this informal portrait was a bequest from the artist’s younger daughter Miss Helen Martineau in 1951 we can assume she has identified the sitter correctly. — Dennis T. Lanigan

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