Gilded Heiresses

Gilded Heiresses

Portraits and Power

How Gilded Age women used art to define themselves

Julie Montagu's avatar
Julie Montagu
Sep 11, 2025
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From the imposing marble statues of ancient Roman figures to the brooding oil paintings of the Renaissance era, one truth has remained: a portrait is rarely just a portrait. In the Gilded Age, this sentiment was truer still.

For the women of America and Britain’s upper crust, being painted was not only an aesthetic indulgence, it was a carefully curated …

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