Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes. He is credited as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.
Dame Vanessa Redgrave is an English actress. Throughout her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and an Olivier Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. She has also received various honorary awards, including the BAFTA Fellowship Award, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and an induction into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Dorothea Jordan was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time mistress of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, and the mother of 10 illegitimate children by him, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence. She was known professionally as Dorothea Francis and Dorothea Jordan, was informally Dora Jordan, and she was commonly referred to as Mrs Jordan and Mrs FitzClarence.
Dame Alice Ellen Terry was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
John Hoppner was an English portrait painter, much influenced by Reynolds, who achieved fame as a brilliant colourist.
Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified".
Sir William Beechey was a British portraitist during the golden age of British painting.
Frances J. de Lautour, better known as Frances de la Tour, is an English actress. She is known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the television sitcom Rising Damp from 1974 until 1978. She is a Tony Award winner and three-time Olivier Award winner.
Johan / Johann Joseph Zoffany was a German neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy, and India. His works appear in many prominent British collections, including the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery and the Royal Collection, as well as institutions in continental Europe, India, the United States and Australia. His name is sometimes spelled Zoffani or Zauffelij.
John Shackleton was a British painter and draughtsman who produced history paintings and portraits. His parents and origins are unknown.
Jane Baxter was a British actress. Her stage career spanned half a century, and she appeared in a number of films and in television.
Amelia Cary, Viscountess Falkland, was a British noblewoman. She was born the fifth illegitimate daughter of William IV of the United Kingdom by his long-time mistress Dorothea Jordan. Amelia had four sisters and five brothers, all surnamed FitzClarence. Soon after their father became monarch, the FitzClarence children were raised to the ranks of younger children of a marquess. A granddaughter of George III, Amelia was named after her aunt Princess Amelia.
Trilby is a stage play by Paul M. Potter based on the 1894 novel Trilby by George du Maurier. In the play, a young Irish woman, Trilby O'Ferrall, falls under the control of Svengali, who uses hypnosis to make her abandon her fiancé and become a singer.
Lady Augusta Gordon was a British noblewoman. Born the fourth illegitimate daughter of William IV of the United Kingdom by his long-time mistress Dorothea Jordan, she grew up at their Bushy House residence in Teddington. Augusta had four sisters and five brothers all surnamed FitzClarence. Soon after their father became monarch, the FitzClarence children were raised to the ranks of younger children of a marquess.
Emma Brownlow (1832–1905) was a Victorian era artist who is best known for her paintings depicting scenes from life at the Foundling Hospital in London.
Jane Powell or Mrs Powell was a British actress. She was also known as Mrs Renaud and Mrs Farmer.
Mrs Rock or Mrs Edward Anthony Rock or Miss Essex was a British actor who died in 1779 or some time after. She played at the best theatres in London in minor roles. Her reviews record her poor acting, but there is a portrait of her in the Garrick Club.
Mary Bradshaw was a British stage actress at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane for 37 years. She appeared with David Garrick and she was included in a painting by Johann Zoffany.
Dorothea Jordan as Rosalind is a 1787 portrait painting by the English artist William Beechey of the Irish actress Dorothea Jordan.
Portrait of the Duke of Clarence is a portrait painting by the Irish artist Martin Archer Shee depicting the future William IV, then Duke of Clarence.
