Book Review: Out of the Shadows: Rediscovering Maria Cosway
Out of the Shadows by Diane Boucher, from Unicorn.
There’s a dramatic full-length portrait in Chatsworth House of noted beauty and leader of fashion, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
She’s presented as descending from the heavens, towards the viewer, in the guise of Diana, goddess of the Moon and the hunt. Eye-catching, and a favourite of her son, the 6th duke, this is one of the artist’s finest surviving works. The person wielding the paintbrush was up-and-coming artist Maria Cosway.
The forgotten genius
As the title of Diane Boucher’s book implies, Maria Cosway’s accomplishments have been eclipsed by those of her contemporaries, such as Angelica Kauffman or Mary Wollstonecraft. According to Boucher, there are few, if any, biographies of Maria that don’t ‘trivialise her and ignore her many remarkable achievements’. This book aims to restore her reputation as a ‘creative and innovative person in her own right’. The author achieves her objective.
Despite being an English woman and an inn-keeper’s daughter, as a teenager she was admitted to the prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence. A few years before her death she was made a Baroness of the Austrian Empire. These honours bookend a complex life that included a difficult marriage to miniature portrait painter Richard Cosway, friendships with Thomas Jefferson, writer Mary Robinson and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and running a London home that became a society hub.
Maria was also a musician, a mother, and, later in life, a progressive educationalist. She was also, it seems, often frustrated. As a woman she wasn’t permitted to engage as fully with the Royal Academy as she would like. As a wife, she had to put up with her husband’s many affairs. And as an educationalist, she was frustrated in her first attempts to set up a school for girls in Lyon, France.
Diane’s book documents all of this in considerable detail, as it tells the story of how Maria blossomed, struggled and ultimately settled into her role, supporting the education of young women.
High-quality production
When this book arrived, I was immediately impressed by the production quality. It has a luxurious feel, and its physical presentation is matched by the high standard of its content. Diane’s research is thorough and her presentation highly readable and packed with historical detail.
It’s a delight for those of us who love to dig deeper. There are two appendices (a list of Maria’s paintings displayed at the Royal Academy and her autobiographical letter of 1830), detailed chapter notes, an extensive bibliography,details of illustrations and an index.
If, as I was, you’ve heard the name Maria Cosway but know little or nothing about her, I highly recommend this book. It’s also ideal for anyone looking to discover more about the challenges and possibilities for talented women in the Regency era. Or if you’re just looking for a solid biography of someone who, until now, has been a little overlooked.
Out of the Shadows: Rediscovering Maria Cosway is by Diane Boucher and published by Unicorn.
Maria Cosway in the early 1780s by Richard Cosway
Andrew Knowles researches and writes about the late Georgian and Regency period. He’s also a freelance writer and editor for business. He lives with his wife Rachel, co-author of this blog, in the Dorset seaside town of Weymouth.
If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage us and help us to keep making our research freely available, please buy us a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.
Regency History
by Andrew & Rachel Knowles
We research and write about the late Georgian and Regency period.
Rachel also writes faith-based Regency romance with rich historical detail.
