Arts & antiques
Early modern European history is awash with great artists that deserve to be more widely recognised
IT was a portrait that changed a life.
When Sarah Biffin (1784–1850) set out to paint George Douglas, 16th Earl of Morton, at a county fair in the early 19th century, it marked the start of a successful artistic career that would see her portray royalty and become miniature painter to The Prince of Orange and Princess Augusta.
Quite the feat for any artist, but all the more so for someone who held a brush with her teeth and shoulder. Biffin had been born in East Quantoxhead, Somerset, with no arms or legs. She seemed destined for a life as a fairground attraction after impresario Emmanuel Dukes persuaded her to join his troupe; there, she painted pictures for which he charged three guineas apiece. A lucky encounter with Lord Morton and his subsequent patronage—he paid for her to have lessons with miniature painter William Craig —allowed her to open a studio in London’s Bond Street. Soon, she counted the pinnacle of British Society among her clients. ‘She was a very talented painter,’ says Lawrence Hendra of art dealer Philip Mould, who mounted an award-winning exhibition of her work at the end of 2022. ‘To have succeeded at a time when opportunities for young disabled women were so restricted is remarkable and is a testament not only to her strength of will, but also her undeniable talents.’
Determination in the face of adversity isn’t the only reason Biffin is interesting. She belongs to a cadre of lesser-known painters from early modern Europe who deser ve to become more widely recognised. Many were long overlooked because of their gender. The archetype of these historically neglected Old Masters is Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653), who vanished from memor y for centuries before being rediscovered in the 1970s and entering t
