Thomas Sully

Dr. Charles D. Meigs, Philadelphia (commissioned from the artist)

Charles D. Meigs, Jr., Philadelphia (acquired by descent from the above)

Sarah Throckmorton Meigs, Philadelphia (acquired by descent from the above)

Vose Galleries, Boston

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis

M. Knoedler & Co., New York

Sotheby Parke Bernet New York, March 22, 1978, lot 11

Wolf Family Collection No. 0206 (acquired from the above)

Philadelphia, Artist's Fund Society, Fifth Exhibition, 1840, no. 37 (as The Mantilla)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Replica Handbags s, Annual Exhibition, 1844, no. 8 (as Portrait of a Lady with a Guitar)

Brooklyn, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Early American Paintings, 1917, no. 113, illustrated

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Replica Handbags s, Memorial Exhibition of Portraits by Thomas Sully, 1922, no. 146

New York, M. Knoedler & Co., The American Vision - Paintings 1825-1875, 1968, no. 13, illustrated

A Panorama of American Paintings: The John J. McDonough Collection, no. 56, p. 64, pl. 6, illustrated

Edward Biddle & Mantle Fielding, The Life and Works of Thomas Sully, Philadelphia, 1922, p. 386, no. 2577

John E. Bullard, The Magazine Antiques, vol. CXII, no. 5, November 1977, p. 946, illustrated

Park Avenue Social Review, March 1978, vol. 53, no. 3, p. 4, illustrated

Commissioned by Dr. Charles D. Meigs of Philadelphia, this painting remained in the Meigs family for generations. Although it is deeply rooted in 19th century American society and portraiture, this painting also reflects profound European influence in the styling of the subject. The mantilla—the black liturgical veil draped over the woman's head—is emblematic of Spanish culture and appears frequently in the work of artists like Diego Velázquez, El Greco and Pablo Picasso.