Another layer of research

Removing the 1829 portrait of Georgiana Molloy from its velvet-lined gilt frame reveals the artist’s individual brushstrokes and the colours he used to create the background. Shown here as it was when attached to an easel on backing paper, the portrait shows that its painter knew the shape and dimensions of the oval frame to be used.

Photograph © Mike Rumble, by permission of Mrs Dorothy Blaasch