# Isabella Wolff

**Thomas Lawrence** (English, 1769–1830)  
1803–15  
Oil on canvas  
128.2 × 102.4 cm (50 1/2 × 40 5/16 in.); Framed: 156.2 × 130.5 cm (61 1/2 × 51 3/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.4461. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4773).

## About this work

This portrait depicts Isabella Wolff, one of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s closest friends. Shown contemplating a printed image of the Delphic Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, Wolff assumes a pose that cleverly echoes another Sibyl from that same work. Sibyls, priestesses of Classical legend who made enigmatic judgments and prophecies, were often pictured according to Western fantasies of the Near East, hence Wolff’s elaborate turban.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Thomas Lawrence painted this in 1803–15, aged about 34. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A light-skinned woman in a long, shiny white dress sits at a desk reading a book. The book is propped on a large red pillow. Her head is propped in her hand.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Thomas Lawrence](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-lawrence)

English, 1769–1830; born in Bristol; died in London

Lawrence was a child prodigy in pastel portraiture and largely self-taught. He moved to London as a teenager, exhibited a full-length of Queen Charlotte at the Royal Academy at twenty-one, and succeeded Joshua Reynolds as Painter in Ordinary to George III. After 1815 the Prince Regent commissioned him to paint the leaders of the alliance against Napoleon for the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle. He became President of the Royal Academy in 1820 and was the leading portraitist of his day.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: England
- The artist was about 34
- Real size: about 50 × 40 in (128 × 102 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 30 × 40 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: portraits: female subject, architechtural drawing, book, fashion, flowers, luxury, pillows, portrait
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/8.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/8/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/isabella-wolff-aic-4773).