Lady Anne Clifford

The National Portrait Gallery in London has acquired this re-discovered portrait of Lady Anne Clifford (1618) by William Larkin. It was found in a European private collection by Mark Weiss of The Weiss Gallery and sold to the National Portrait Gallery for £275,000. The Art Fund contributed £70,000 to the purchase, with £45,000 from private donations and the remainder from the Gallery's Portrait Fund and acquisition budget. It's a very fine painting of a beautiful lady, but the historic importance of the subject alone makes this a worthy acquisition. Daughter of George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland, Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset and later Countess of Pembroke, fought a long battle over her inheritance and is now seen as a proto-feminist. She became a patron of the arts, famed for her extensive building and restoration works on her castles and churches in the north of England. By the time of her death, she was reputedly the richest woman in Britain. Her portrait will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery next spring (CLICK).