A pale-skinned woman wearing a shimmering, pearl-white dress stands next to a harp, which is taller than she is, in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body faces us, but she angles her head slightly to our right. She looks up and off into the distance with gray-blue eyes under dark, curved brows. She has an oval face with a narrow chin. Her cheeks are flushed, and her full pink lips are closed. Her hair is pulled up, and chin-length curls frame her face. A ruffle, perhaps of lace, lines the low neckline of her dress, which has a sheen suggesting satin or silk. The gown has short,…
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.

Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely

Thomas Sully (American, born England, 1783 - 1872)

1818

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 214.5 x 142.5 cm (84 7/16 x 56 1/8 in.) ; framed: 242.6 x 172.1 x 9.8 cm (95 1/2 x 67 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
Culture
American
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line
Gift of Maude Monell Vetlesen
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art