1725
Mkey:
797
Sitter/Title:
The Brontë Sisters (Anne Brontë; Emily Brontë; Charlotte Brontë)
Qualifier:
by
Artist(s):
Patrick Branwell Brontë
Date made:
circa 1834
Medium:
oil on canvas
Credit line:
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Authority data import (Capture):
Charlotte Brontë (Mrs A.B. Nicholls), Novelist, Female, Novelists and authors; Anne Brontë, Novelist, Female, Novelists and authors; Emily Brontë, Novelist, Female, Novelists and authors
People Authority (Sitters):
Emily Brontë; Anne Brontë; Charlotte Brontë
Measurements:
35 1/2 in. x 29 3/8 in. (902 mm x 746 mm)
Caption:
This is the only surviving group portrait of the three famous novelist sisters - from left to right: Anne, Emily and Charlotte Brontë. The portrait was known from a description of it by the novelist {Elizabeth Gaskell|mp1736} who saw it in 1853. It was thhought to have been lost until it was discovered folded up on top of a cupboard by the second wife of Charlotte Brontë's husband, the Reverend A.B. Nicholls, in 1914. In the centre of the group a male figure, previously concealed by a painted pillar, can now be discerned; it is almost certainly a self-portrait of the artist, their brother Branwell Brontë.
The front page of the popular <i>Daily Graphic</i> magazine of March 6 1914 bore the headline The Romantic Discovery of Long Lost Brontë Portraits. s. The accompanying illustration depicted visitors inspecting two damaged portraits of the Brontë sisters, hung for the first time at the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait was known from a description of it by the novelist {Elizabeth Gaskell|mp1736736} who saw it in 1853. The rediscovery of the portraits, thought to be long lost, made for a compelling story and generated much public interest. They had been found by Mrs M. A. Nicholls, the second wife of Charlotte Brontës widower, on top of a wardardrobe at Hill House, Banagher in Ireland. Both portraits were painted by Branwell Brontë, brother to Charlotte, Emily and Anne. In the centre of the group a male figure, previously concealed by a painted pillar, can now be discerned; it is almost certtainly a self-portrait of the artist, their brother Branwell Brontë, later painted out. This work, having been folded up for many years, was marked by a number of crease lines. The single portrait of Emily is the only surviving fragment of a larger group portrait that included the other sisters and Branwell, who was depicted holding a gun. As Mrs Nicholls, the discoverer of the paintings, explained in a letter to the Gallery, her husband had cut it out of a painting done by Branwell as he thought it gogood but the others were bad.
It was unusual for the Gallery to acquire portraits in such a damaged state, and there was much debate about their quality. Elizabeth Gaskell described the group portrait as not much better than sign painting as to the man manipulation but the likenesses were, I should think, admirable. Writing for The Sphere, Clement Shorter expected that by the time of their display restoration would have fully remedied the ill-treatment derived from over forty years of neglect. The G The Gallery concluded, however, that the damaged condition of the portraits was expressive in itself and merited preservation. At the first day of viewing visitors were so numerous that, in the words of the Yorkshire Observer, the Gallery underwent a miminor siege and today both paintings are still some of the most popular works in the Gallerys collections.
