A Country Girl at Surrentum

Allan Ramsay British, Scottish

September 1776

Not on view

Ramsay was a leading British portraitist considered particularly sympathetic to female subjects. Repeated visits to France and Italy refined the artist’s draftsmanship, and he made this study in 1776 after spending a summer at a spa on Ischia, near Naples, where he received treatment for an arm injury. By September he was sufficiently recovered to make several red chalk drawings, including this sensitive study of an Italian girl at Sorrento. The sensual treatment of neck and cheek, combined with unfocused gaze and simple dress, encapsulates the naturalism of Ramsay’s late style, while the pose in profile and Latinized place name of Surrentum—inscribed on the verso—evoke the classical past.

Artwork Details

Title: A Country Girl at Surrentum
Artist: Allan Ramsay (British, Edinburgh, Scotland 1713–1784 Dover)
Date: September 1776
Medium: Red chalk, heightened with white
Dimensions: Sheet: 11 15/16 × 8 5/8 in. (30.3 × 21.9 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, PECO Foundation, Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation, and Jeffrey L. Berenson Gifts, 2006
Object Number: 2006.154
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Allan Ramsay

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Georgius III. Rex Magnae Britanniae, Franciae et Hyberniae

Multiple artists/makers

1763–69

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) — Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Portrait of Emma Hamilton, Angelica Kauffmann Swiss, Black and white chalk, on gray prepared paper — Portrait of Emma Hamilton
Angelica Kauffmann
Lady Emma Hamilton
1791

Portrait of Charlotte Duchesne, Philippe de Champaigne French, Black chalk, heightened with white, with touches of red chalk — Portrait of Charlotte Duchesne
Philippe de Champaigne
ca. 1628

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.