Museum number
2014.5
Object
Pastel portrait: Mrs Mary Bagot (nee Hay) (d.1799) by Anna Tonelli (c.1763-1846), 1797. Framed and glazed in original giltwood frame.
Description
Anna Tonelli (nee Nistri) was an Italian artist based primarily in Florence and London. She married the Italian Violinist and Composer Luigi Tonelli. It is likely she was trained as an artist by the Italian Painter, Giuseppe Piattoli. She painted for British patrons such as Lord Clive of India and Henry Blundell. She was employed by Clive to teach his children how to draw and paint. She later exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1794 (Portrait of a Lady, Three Portraits of Gentlemen, Ariadne) and 1797 (Portraits of Two Young Ladies, Portrait of a Young Lady, Portrait of a Gentleman, Portrait of a Young Gentleman). She later went to India with Clive and his family from 1798 - 1801. She created watercolours and paintings on her trip round India of Tipu Sultan, the Rajah of Tanjore and others.
On display?
Yes

Further description

Simple name
pastel
Dimensions
framed: 34cm (h) x 30.5cm (w)
image size: 24.1 cm (h) x 20.8cm (w)
Anna Tonelli (c.1763–1846) Rev Dr Lewis Bagot, Bishop of St Asaph (1740–1802) and Mary Hay, Mrs Lewis Bagot (d.1799) Pastel on paper, 1797 Inscribed on backing: Anna Tonelli fece in Londra 1797 Bequest of Joseph Ken Mundy, 2014 2014.4 and 2014.5 The Florentine Anna Nistri (wife of Luigi Tonelli, a violinist) first came into contact with British patrons in Florence on the Grand Tour. She was brought to London in 1794 by Lord Clive, who employed her as a drawing mistress for his children and later took her on a tour of India. These sober but lively portraits are typical of Tonelli’s pastels, with their refined flesh tones and delicately detailed costume. Bishop Bagot, ‘a diffident and conscientious man’, served the bishoprics of Bristol and Norwich before settling in St Asaph in North Wales.

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