The Sharp Family

The Sharp Family
Artist	Johann Zoffany
Year	1779–1781
Type	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	115.6 cm× 125.7 cm(45.5 in× 49.5 in)
Location	Private collection

The Sharp Family is a group portrait painting by the German-British artist Johann Zoffany. ^[1] Painted between 1779 and 1781, it portrays the English abolitionist and musician Granville Sharp and his extended family. ^[2] The Sharp family are depicted on their barge on the River Thames, where they routinely staged concerts. In the background is the church of All Saints, Fulham, to which the family had strong links. As of 2024 the painting is on loan to the National Gallery in London from a private collection. ^[3]

References

1. Leppert p. 206
2. Abbott p. 70
3. The Sharp Family. National Gallery. Retrieved 28 July 2024.

Bibliography

• Abbott, Mary. Family Ties: English Families 1540–1920. Routledge, 2013.
• Grant, Hester. The Good Sharps: The Brothers and Sisters Who Remade Their World. Random House, 2020.
• Leppert, Richard. Music and Image: Domesticity, Ideology and Socio-cultural Formation in Eighteenth-Century England. Cambridge University Press, 1993.