# The Linley Sisters

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Painting by Thomas Gainsborough

The Linley Sisters Artist Thomas Gainsborough Year 1772 Type Oil on canvas, portrait painting Dimensions 199 cm × 153.5 cm (78 in × 60.4 in) Location Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

***The Linley Sisters*** is an oil on canvas [portrait painting](/source/Portrait_painting) by the British artist [Thomas Gainsborough](/source/Thomas_Gainsborough), from 1772.[1]

## History and description

It depicts the [singers](/source/Singers) [Elizabeth Ann Linley](/source/Elizabeth_Ann_Linley) and her younger sister [Mary Linley](/source/Mary_Linley). Gainsborough was at the time a Bath-based painter focusing on society portraits. The sisters were part of the musical Linley Family based in the city, both daughters of [Thomas Linley the elder](/source/Thomas_Linley_the_elder). Elizabeth famously [eloped](/source/Eloped) with the playwright [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](/source/Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan). The two sisters are shown in a natural setting. One of them is seated, with a music book on her lap, while she looks smiling to the viewer. The other sister is up and rests calmly her shoulder upon her sibling, as she looks to the left.

The painting was displayed at the [Royal Academy](/source/Royal_Academy_of_Arts)'s [Summer Exhibition](/source/Summer_Exhibition) of 1772 at [Pall Mall](/source/Pall_Mall%2C_London) along with another Gainsborough work *[Portrait of Sir William Pulteney](/source/Portrait_of_Sir_William_Pulteney)*.[2] In 1785 it was retouched by Gainsborough at the request of the Linley family to make the costumes of the style-conscious sisters reflect the current fashion. In 1835 it was donated by their brother [William Linley](/source/William_Linley) to the [Dulwich Picture Gallery](/source/Dulwich_Picture_Gallery) and remains in the collection there.[3]

## See also

- *[Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan](/source/Mrs._Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan_(painting))*, a 1787 portrait of Elizabeth Linley by Gainsborough

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Jones p. 120

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Hamilton p.211

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Elizabeth and Mary Linley | Dulwich Picture Gallery"](https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/301-350/elizabeth-and-mary-linley/). *www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk*. Retrieved 2025-03-02.

## Bibliography

- Hamilton, James. *Gainsborough: A Portrait*. Hachette UK, 2017.

- Jones, Rica. *Thomas Gainsborough*. Harry N. Abrams, 2009.

- Lindsay, Jack. *Thomas Gainsborough: His Life and Art*. Granada, 1981.

- Waterhouse, Ellis Kirkham. *Gainsborough*. Spring Books, 1966.

v t e Thomas Gainsborough Portraits Conversation in a Park (1746) Mr and Mrs Andrews (c. 1750) Edward Vernon (1753) The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly (1757) Self-Portrait (1759) Ann Ford (1760) Lady Alston (1762) Edward Turner (1762) Countess Howe (1764) Robert Clive (1764) Augustus Hervey (1767) Lord Vernon (1767) Lady Molyneux (1769) Thomas Linley the Elder (1770) The Blue Boy (c. 1770) Maria, Lady Eardley (c. 1770) David Garrick (1770) Woman in Blue (c. 1770–1780) Thomas Linley the Younger (1772) The Linley Sisters (1772) Sir William Pulteney (1772) Johann Christian Bach (1776) Mary Graham (1777) Mary Gainsborough (1777) Countess of Chesterfield (1777–78) Philip James de Loutherbourg (1778) James Christie (1778) Mrs Elizabeth Moody with her Sons Samuel and Thomas (c. 1780) Jeffery Amherst (1780) Henry Seymour Conway (1780) George III (1781) Mary Robinson (1781) Queen Charlotte (1781) Giovanna Baccelli (1782) Admiral Rodney (1783) Earl of Sandwich (1783) Lord Cornwallis (1783) The Baillie Family (1784) Earl of Buckinghamshire (1784) Lord Rawdon (1784) The Three Eldest Princesses (1784) Sarah Siddons (1785) Mr and Mrs William Hallett (1785) Duchess of Devonshire (1785–1787) Mrs Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1787) Musidora (1788) Landscapes Cornard Wood, near Sudbury, Suffolk (1748) Wooded Landscape with a Herdsman Seated (1748) The Harvest Wagon (c. 1767) The Watering Place (1777) Gypsy Encampment, Sunset (1779) The Mall in St James's Park (1783) Romantic Landscape with Sheep at a Spring (1783) The Market Cart (1786) Other works Cottage Door works Gypsy works (including The Gipsies et al.) Home Thomas Gainsborough home and museum Related Mary Gainsborough (daughter) Humphrey Gainsborough (brother) Gainsborough Dupont (nephew) Kitty (1945 film) Gainsborough (crater)

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