Queen Charlotte (1744-1818)

When this went up at the Royal Academy's summer show in 1781, one critic called it the only true likeness of the Queen anyone had managed. Charlotte, wife of George III, had by then borne more than a dozen children, and sitters said she disliked the fuss of posing. Gainsborough kept the face plain and honest and threw all his bravura into the dress, gold-spangled silk net over white, with tasselled knots of gold lace catching the light. His nephew and assistant, Gainsborough Dupont, later told the story that the master painted all that billowing drapery in a single night. Whether or not that is exact, the speed shows. The silk looks brushed on wet, still moving.