Lost portrait of Lady Nelson

I recently discovered this vivid and revealing portrait of Frances, Dowager Viscountess Nelson (1761-1831), the widow of Admiral Lord Nelson. This is the first portrait of Lady Nelson to be identified for over a century and one of only four portraits of her to survive.

It offers an affecting image of Frances in the last year of her life and acts as a counter-balance to the very many glamorous and familiar images of her rival Emma, Lady Hamilton. Painted by the little known miniature artist J.B.Beech, the portrait was likely completed in the house in Harley Street, London where Frances died in May 1831.

The full story of the portrait’s remarkable discovery, and its identification, can be read in the 2015 Winter issue  of the Nelson Dispatch, the quarterly journal of the Nelson Society.

News of the discovery in the Sunday Telegraph 25 October 2015 Sunday Telegraph Lady Nelson

Read the discovery online at the Telegraph

Read the discovery at Mail Online.

Portrait of a lady identified as Frances, Dowager Viscountess Nelson (1761-1831), watercolour on ivory, signed and dated ‛J.B.Beech 1831’, 180 x 135mm / 7 x 5 ¼ inches. Martyn Downer Works of Art Ltd