The Making and Breaking of Wedlock: Visualising Jane, Duchess of Gordon After Marriage

Abstract

This chapter offers a chronological analysis of the visual culture of domesticity surrounding Jane, Duchess of Gordon (1748–1812). While visual representations of the eighteenth-century marriage union have been extensively considered by art historians, the perspective provided by satirical prints has often been elided due to a focus on painted portraiture. This study seeks to bridge this gap between two modes of representation by considering the limits of formal portraiture in articulating a filial and genealogical narrative. It argues that graphic satires offer an alternative narrative, with those representing the Duchess of Gordon exposing her as a flawed wife and mother. In so doing, it reveals how marriage itself was conceptualised in eighteenth-century Britain.