The Ladies Waldegrave


The Ladies Waldegrave is a 1780–81 portrait by Joshua Reynolds, now in the Scottish National Gallery, who acquired it in 1952. It shows the three daughters of James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, and Maria Walpole – from left to right, Charlotte, Elizabeth and Anna. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1781, it was commissioned the previous year by the subjects' mother in the hope of attracting potential suitors for them – all three of them were then unmarried.