ELIZABETH CRAVEN AND HER WORLD

This very unusual painting hangs at Berkeley Castle and is described as The Berkeley and Granard Family Group. Painted by Ozias Humphry, who did many portraits of the Craven family, both individually and collectively, it is dated 1780. An inscription in the top right corner names everybody in it. The painting shows us Elizabeth Craven, who was born a Berkeley, in company with her elder sister Georgiana and both of her brothers. And this is not merely a portrait, it is a scene where what is happening is amusing and very typical of Elizabeth Craven.        Paintings of Elizabeth's elder sister, Lady Georgiana Berkeley, who became Countess of Granard, are few and far between. This may be the only painting or drawing to survive, and shows us why she was regarded as a beauty. She is tall, fair-haired and commanding, with a perfect classical profile. But is there a touch too much rouge on those cheeks? Queen Charlotte thought so. The dress she is wearing is in the styl...

Elizabeth Craven was painted many times. This portrait of her by Ozias Humphry (1742-1810) is one of the most fascinating images as it captures a certain shrewdness and humorous twinkle in the eye.  Ozias Humphrey, self-portrait. The date of the painting was until recently uncertain, but it has now been established from correspondence in a private collection that it was done in 1782, just before Craven left England for France. Her husband never paid for it, and the bill was finally settled several years later by her brother the Earl of Berkeley.     Ozias Humphry was a tremendously talented artist whose career was blighted by an accident that damaged his eyesight, and by 1797 he became completely blind. He did not spend his entire working life in England; he was in Italy from 1773 until 1777, and left for India in 1785.   When we look at the high-built-up hairstyle, with a silken scarf wound into it, and the light muslin shawl draped around the ...