Hand-colored 1891 mezzotint engraving by henry t greenhead of lawrence's portrait of lady elizabeth leveson-gower, later marchioness of westminster, wife of the 2nd marquess of westminster. Lawrence's portrait was painted when she was 21, before her marriage. Charles robert leslie considered this portrait to be "the most beautiful of lawrence's female heads," and a perfect example of how his best portraits were sometimes the ones he worked on only briefly. Lawrence completed this portrait in one two-hour sitting. In 1881, lady westminster recalled lawrence and her sitting for the portrait 63 years before:
his manners were what is called extremely 'polished' (not the fault of the present times). He wore a large cravat, and had a tinge about him of the time of george iv. , pervading his general demeanor. I should not say he was amusing, but what struck me most, during my two hours sitting in russell square, was the perfection of the drawing of his portraits. Before any color was put on, the drawing itself was so perfectly beautiful that it seemed almost a sin to add any color. Lawrence painted her seated half-length, body facing front with head turned in three-quarter profile to right; wearing a sheer gauze over-dress with long full ruffled sleeves over a white satin slip with short puffed sleeves and a thin blue sash under the bust, no jewels except for a small brooch at the bust, and her black hair in a topknot with ringlets. Object Type: painting. Date: 1818 (original portrait); 1891 (engraving). Place of creation: Russell Square, Middlesex (now London). Dimensions: height: 76 cm (29.9 in); width: 63 cm (24.8 in) (original portrait). Medium: engraving, mezzotint print, oil on canvas. Elizabeth, Countess Grosvenor, mezzotint by Henry Greenhead after Sir Thomas Lawrence 1818
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