Diana Beauclerk

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Diana Beauclerk, still as Lady Bolingbroke. Painting by Joshua Reynolds

Lady Diana Beauclerk (born Lady Diana Spencer , divorced Diana St. John, Viscountess Bolingbroke ) (born March 24, 1734 , † August 1, 1808 in Richmond ) was a British painter.

Origin and youth

Diana Beauclerk was born Diana Spencer as the eldest of five children of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough and his wife Elizabeth Trevor († 1761). As the daughter of a duke , she used the courtesy "Lady". Lady Di, as she was called by her family, grew up primarily in Langley Park in Buckinghamshire , her father's preferred country estate. She had a carefree childhood, during which her drawing talent was encouraged under the influence of the painter Joshua Reynolds . According to a portrait by Reynolds made between 1763 and 1765, she was an attractive woman with an elongated, oval face, curved nose, and wide-set eyes. Her younger brother George became his main heir after the death of her father in 1758.

Life

Diana had married Frederick St. John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke (1734–1787) on September 8, 1757 in Harbledown , Kent . Despite the birth of several children, the marriage was not happy. Her husband led an extravagant life, drank, and had numerous extramarital affairs. Between 1762 and 1768, Lady Bolingbroke, as she was now called, served Queen Charlotte as lady-in-waiting . However, on January 22, 1768, Bolingbroke filed for divorce for infidelity of his wife. Since this required the approval of parliament, the first reading of the necessary law took place on February 11th. At the second reading on February 26th, a servant of Lady Bolingbroke testified that Lord Bolingbroke had not entered the London townhouse where Lady Bolingbroke lived since November 1765. Instead, however, she would receive regular visits from a Mr. Beauclerk, who often stayed overnight. Presumably this was also the father of her daughter, who was secretly born on August 19, 1766, but had already died the following year. Thereupon the law on divorce was passed in the third reading on March 8th and confirmed by the king on March 10th. On March 12th, Lady Diana married Topham Beauclerk (1739-1780) in St George's Church in the London borough of Mayfair. Her second marriage is also said to have been inharmonious, but she was gradually gaining the respect of her husband and his friends, who included Edward Gibbon , David Garrick , Samuel Johnson , Charles Fox and Edmund Burke . During these years, Lady Diana's artistic talent became particularly evident. In addition to numerous portraits, she made countless other small drawings. While she initially used plump Cupid figures as a motif, later groups of people in landscapes were added. In addition to drawings, she also painted watercolors and pastel pictures . Horace Walpole valued her so much that he commissioned her to paint a wood paneling that he had installed in a specially designed room in his Strawberry Hill country estate , named after her Beauclerc Cabinet . Presumably from 1785 it was also supported by Josiah Wedgwood , who used their drawings as designs for motifs for his porcelain, which became particularly popular. In 1796 she provided the drafts for the illustrations for the English edition of Gottfried August Bürger's ballad Leonore and in 1797 for the fables by John Dryden , in both cases Francesco Bartolozzi made the engravings based on Lady Diana's drawings. After her husband's death in 1780, she moved from London to Twickenham , where she painted her little Marble Hill or Spencer Grove house with floral motifs. However, due to financial difficulties, she later had to move to a smaller house on Petersham Meadows . As she got older, she increasingly lost her eyesight and could no longer draw. She was buried in the churchyard of Richmond Parish Church, but her grave is no longer preserved.

progeny

From her marriage to Frederick St. John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, she had two surviving sons:

From her marriage to Topham Beauclerk she had four other children:

  • Anne Beauclerk;
  • Mary Day Beauclerk (1766–1851) ⚭ 1797 Count Franz von Jenison zu Walworth (1764–1824);
  • Elizabeth Beauclerk (1766–1793) ⚭ 1787 George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke (1759–1827), general in the British Army;
  • Charles George Beauclerk (1774-1845).

literature

  • Carola Hicks: Improper pursuits. The scandalous life of Lady Di Beauclerk. Macmillan, London 2001, ISBN 0-333-78068-X .
  • Beatrice C. Erskine: Lady Diana Beauclerk, her life and work. Unwin, London 1903.

Web links

Commons : Diana Beauclerk  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Beauclerk, Diana
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spencer, Lady Diana; St. John, Diana, Viscountess Bolingbroke; Lady Di
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1734
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1808
Place of death Richmond