Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress, possibly Mrs Mary Barnardiston 1779

Curator: We're looking at Nathaniel Hone's "Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress, possibly Mrs. Mary Barnardiston," housed here at the Tate. Hone lived from 1718 to 1784. Editor: Oh, she's so proper! But I sense a hidden cheekiness, maybe a delightful gossip just waiting to escape. The light on her face is almost conspiratorial. Curator: Indeed. The proliferation of bows—on her dress, her cap, even at her throat—speaks to a very particular visual language of status and femininity. What do you make of it? Editor: It's almost too much, isn't it? Like she's trying to contain something wild with all those ribbons. Maybe that's the gossip I'm sensing. Curator: Perhaps the portrait subtly challenges the very norms it seems to uphold. Hone gives us a glimpse of the individual beneath the artifice. Editor: It makes you wonder about the real person, doesn’t it? What she really thought, away from the powdered wigs and polite society. Curator: Precisely. It’s a fascinating tension to explore. Editor: Agreed. A proper lady with a secret. I like her already.