A light-skinned woman in a long, shiny white dress sits at a desk reading a book. The book is propped on a large red pillow. Her head is propped in her hand.

Isabella Wolff

Sir Thomas Lawrence

1803/15

Produced over the course of 12 years, this portrait depicts Isabella Wolff, one of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s most intimate friends, contemplating a printed image of the Delphic Sibyl from Michelangelo’s famous Sistine Chapel ceiling. Wolff’s serpentine pose cleverly echoes another Sibyl from that same work. The Sibyls were priestesses of Classical legend who made enigmatic judgments and prophecies. They were often pictured according to Western fantasies of the Near East, hence Wolff’s elaborate turban here. Lawrence was famed for his ability to evoke the surface effects and textures of clothing; that talent is on full display in Wolff’s shimmering satin gown.

Title	Isabella Wolff
Artist	Sir Thomas Lawrence
Date	1803/15
Medium	Oil on canvas
Style	nineteenth century
Dimensions	128.2 × 102.4 cm (50 1/2 × 40 5/16 in.); Framed: 156.2 × 130.5 cm (61 1/2 × 51 3/8 in.)