“The present lot was executed in Rome where Marie Spartali Stillman lived with her husband William James Stillman (1828-191) who was posted there as a foreign correspondent for The Times between 1889-1896.

It is very possible that the sitter in this picture is Bella Middleton the eldest of Marie’s step-daughters, who was present in Rome at this period acting as her father’s secretary, a role she greatly resented. Bella had accepted an unexpected proposal of marriage in 1892 from John Henry Middleton, the then Slade Professor at Cambridge, and they were married in Rome in December 1892. Middleton had meanwhile been appointed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, however, he was undermined by the politics of the place and became severely depressed, returning to Rome no better on indefinite leave. The couple returned to London only once where he sadly died from an overdose of laudanum in June 1896. Bella returned to Rome to be with her father and Marie who, during this period, produced a number of works with Bella as the muse.

Bonhams

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Hauser At Sunnyside

Handel At Sunnyside

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Lascia ch’io pianga at wikiwand

Marie Spartali Stillman at wikiwand

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Marie Spartali Stillman at Bonhams

Marie Spartali stillman at Christie’s

Marie Spartali Stillman at wikimedia

Thanks for Visiting 🙂

~Sunnyside