Who painted Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke?

Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke was painted by Joshua Reynolds in 1761.

Where can I see Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke?

Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

What movement is Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke?

Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke is associated with Rococo painting.

Artwork

Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke

Joshua Reynolds , 1761

Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke is an unspecified painting by the Rococo painting artist Joshua Reynolds. It dates from 1761 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The work depicts the Yorke sisters, Amabel and Mary Jemima, standing together in the garden of their family’s country estate near London.

About this work

Overview

Both are dressed in airy, specially designed garments rather than typical outdoor attire, and they are shown engaged in a leisurely activity.

The work depicts the Yorke sisters, Amabel and Mary Jemima, standing together in the garden of their family’s country estate near London. Both are dressed in airy, specially designed garments rather than typical outdoor attire, and they are shown engaged in a leisurely activity. The composition was intended for display in the family’s London townhouse on St. James Square, emphasizing their status as members of a landed family.

Subject & Meaning

Amabel, positioned on the left, holds a basket of flowers, while Mary Jemima, on the right, shields a dove from a small dog, a gesture that recalls classical motifs of innocence and protection. The inclusion of the dove and the pastoral setting underscores themes of virtue, gentility, and the genteel upbringing associated with the English aristocracy of the period.

Technique & Style

Executed after the artist’s Italian sojourn, the painting integrates a classical sensibility with the soft handling of light and fabric characteristic of Reynolds. The figures are rendered with a delicate sfumato that blurs edges, giving the faces a gentle glow, while the billowing dresses are modeled with subtle gradations that suggest texture and movement within the open-air setting.

History & Provenance

Commissioned by the sisters’ father, the portrait was originally hung in the family’s urban residence in St. James Square, London. It remained in the Yorke family collection for several generations before entering the public domain through acquisition by a museum, where it now serves as a representative example of late 18th‑century English portraiture.

Context

Created in the late 1760s, the painting reflects the period’s trend of portraying children in idealized, classical poses rather than realistic domestic scenes. Reynolds’s exposure to Roman sculpture during his Italian studies informed the pose of Mary Jemima, echoing the ancient statue of a girl with a dove, thereby linking the English gentry to the cultural prestige of antiquity.