AMICA ID:
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MMA_.62.79.2
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AMICA Library Year:
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2000
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Object Type:
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Paintings
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Creator Name:
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Smibert, John
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Creator Role:
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Artist
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Creator Dates/Places:
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Scottish, 1688-1751
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Creator Name-CRT:
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John Smibert
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Title:
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Mrs. Francis Brinley and Her Son Francis
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View:
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Full View
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Creation Date:
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1729
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Creation Start Date:
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1729
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Creation End Date:
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1729
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Materials and Techniques:
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Oil on canvas
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Dimensions:
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50 x 39 1/4 in. (127.0 x 99.7 cm)
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Owner Location:
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New York, New York, USA
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ID Number:
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62.79.2
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Credit Line:
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Rogers Fund, 1962
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Rights:
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Context:
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Born Deborah Lyde, Mrs. Francis Brinley (1698-1761) was the daughter of Edward and Catherine Lyde and the granddaughter of Judge Nathaniel Byfield (see portrait by Smibert, 24.109.87). When she married Francis Brinley in 1718, she was a woman of wealth and social prominence. An entry in Smibert's notebook dated May 1729 identifies the infant as the Brinley's son Francis (1729-1816). Mrs. Brinley holds a sprig of orange blossoms, a gesture which may have been taken from an eighteenth-century print by Sir Peter Lely. The white orange blossom symbolizes both marriage and purity, while the fruit, a sign of fertility, emphasizes Mrs. Brinley's role as a mother. Orange trees, although fashionable in Europe, were expensive rarities in the colonies. The presence of one here reinforces the sitter's wealth. Smibert also painted a portrait of Mrs. Brinley's husband (62.79.1). |
Related Image Identifier Link:
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MMA_.ap62.79.2.R.tif
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