# Mrs. John Winthrop

**John Singleton Copley** (American, 1738–1815)  
1773  
Oil on canvas  
35 1/2 x 28 3/4 in. (90.2 x 73 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 31.109. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10531).

## About this work

Hannah Winthrop, wife of the Harvard scientist John Winthrop, sits at a polished mahogany table holding a branch of nectarines, and the tabletop reflects her hands and the fruit like a mirror. Copley painted her in 1773, near the end of his Boston career, and the portrait shows his unflinching realism: the lace, the silk and the shrewd, intelligent face are described with equal care. Such feats of illusion, achieved largely without formal training, made him the most sought-after painter in colonial America.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

John Singleton Copley painted this in 1773, aged 35. It is now at The Met in New York.

### 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.

### [John Singleton Copley](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/john-singleton-copley)

American, 1738–1815; born in Boston, Massachusetts; died in London

Copley was largely self-taught and became colonial America’s finest portraitist, painting Boston merchants and their families with sharp, tactile realism, from glinting silver to polished mahogany. In 1774, on the eve of the Revolution, he left for Europe and settled in London, where he turned to large modern history paintings such as Watson and the Shark and The Death of Major Peirson. He never returned to America.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: American
- The artist was 35
- Real size: about 36 × 29 in (90 × 73 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Portraits, Women
- 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/817.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/817/1920.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
- 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
- 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
- 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

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/mrs-john-winthrop-met-10531).