Portrait of Mrs Margaret Gainsborough, c.1778 (oil on canvas)

Margaret Burr married Gainsborough in 1746 and this portrait may have been painted to celebrate her fiftieth birthday. Her direct gaze is striking for its suggestion of intimacy between painter and sitter. Her pose derives from a classical sculpture of pudicity (meaning modesty or chastity); a witty reference to the virtuous fidelity of a wife. The oval shape formed by the mantle also suggests a subtle, personalised version of the painted architectural ovals that frame more formal 18th- century portraits. Margaret Gainsborough (nee Burr) (c.1728-98); wife of the painter Thomas Gainsborough; illegitimate daughter of Henry, 3rd Duke of Beaufort.