Maria Spilsbury

Maria Spilsbury (1776–1820)^[1] was a British artist known for her religious paintings and portraiture.

Biography

Spilsbury learned to paint under the tutelage of her father, Jonathan Spilsbury, himself an accomplished artist and friend of contemporary luminaries such as Joshua Reynolds, founder and president of the Royal Academy, and Methodist minister Charles Wesley.

Despite never having had any formal training, Spilsbury first exhibited at the Royal Academy at the age of fifteen and continued to do so throughout her life. Her paintings were also shown at the British Institution, the British School, the Hibernian Society of Artists, and the Dublin Society. She excelled in portraiture, genre painting, and morality painting. Her work is characterized by a particular interest in evangelical religious themes. Contemporary accounts suggest that her studio on St. George's Row, London, was so popular that to twenty carriages could be seen outside it on weekly private viewing days.^[2] Her patrons included the Prince Regent, George IV, who frequented her studio.^[3]

In 1808 Spilsbury married John Taylor, a Protestant minister with a parish in Hampshire. She moved to Ireland with her husband in 1813, where she remained active as a painter. Shortly thereafter, however, her sixth pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage and Spilsbury fell ill. She died in Dublin on June 1, 1820. Today, her paintings can be found in both private and public collections including those of the National Gallery of Ireland and the British Museum.^[1]

References