1794, Gilbert Stuart, Matilda Stoughton de Jáudenes -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: The daughter of a New England merchant, Matilda Stoughton (1778-after 1822) was sixteen years old when Stuart painted this portrait celebrating her marriage in New York to the Spanish official Josef de Jáudenes. Seated before a loosely painted swath of drapery, she wears a fashionable silk dress and is adorned with pearls, diamonds, and a coronet-shaped headdress. An overt display of wealth, the work signals her newfound status as a Spanish aristocrat and departs from the restrained portrait style preferred by most American patrons of the era. The elaborate coat of arms and Spanish inscription-including Stuart's signature-were added later by another hand, likely after the couple returned to Spain in 1796.
1794, Gilbert Stuart, Matilda Stoughton de Jáudenes -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: The daughter of a New England merchant, Matilda Stoughton (1778-after 1822) was sixteen years old when Stuart painted this portrait celebrating her marriage in New York to the Spanish official Josef de Jáudenes. Seated before a loosely painted swath of drapery, she wears a fashionable silk dress and is adorned with pearls, diamonds, and a coronet-shaped headdress. An overt display of wealth, the work signals her newfound status as a Spanish aristocrat and departs from the restrained portrait style preferred by most American patrons of the era. The elaborate coat of arms and Spanish inscription-including Stuart's signature-were added later by another hand, likely after the couple returned to Spain in 1796.