Margaret Power, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) (after Sir Thomas Lawrence)

James Godsell Middleton (fl.1826 – 1872). Oil painting on canvas, Margaret Power, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) by James Godsell Middleton (fl.1826 – 1872), after Sir Thomas Lawrence. Half-length portrait of a young woman, seated in white evening dress. Spray of flowers at breast, hands lightly clasped. Ring on left hand, pearls on right wrist. Lady Blessington was a novelist, beauty, friend of Byron and Disraeli, and reputed mistress of Count D'Orsay, whose portrait (NT/HUG/P/7a,b) hangs nearby and whose stepdaughter, Lady Harriet Gardiner, he was married to. The original, in the Wallace Collection, was painted in 1822; this copy was given to Disraeli by Sir Richard Wallace in 1879. Hughenden, Buckinghamshire (Accredited Museum)