Self-Portrait  1775

Cosway, who was born in Devonshire, was exceptionally precocious, winning first prize at the age of twelve in a competition held by the Society of Arts in 1755 (Stephen Lloyd, Richard and Maria Cosway: Regency Artists of Taste and Fashion, exh. cat., Edinburgh, 1995, p. 20). He had ambitions to be a portrait painter in oils, but was so successful with miniatures that he co...