Exhibitions
Portraits and the pandemic: Thinking about love stories in unusual times Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London November 13, 2021 – March 13, 2022
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hen I reviewed the prospectus for the new touring exhibition Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London in early 2020, COVID-19 was in the news, but the reality of a global pandemic had yet to be felt in Massachusetts. Months later, when the decision was made to host the exhibition at WAM, we were not only acutely aware of how our lives had been changed by the emergence of a novel virus—but also that love had become a very important theme for our unusual times. Love Stories embraces an inclusive definition of love and celebrates a broad spectrum of relationships over several centuries of portrait-making. These images—in a variety of mediums—are especially poignant at a time when many of us have been compelled to keep a distance from loved ones and, in
the most tragic cases, have experienced great suffering and loss. We still rely on pictures—today digital photos and video rather than oil painting—to sustain our relationships. These images serve as reminders of happier times when we could enjoy each other’s company without apprehension. One particularly moving object in the exhibition is a bronze cast (above) of the clasped hands of the British literary couple Robert Browning (1812 – 1889) and Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861). The act of holding hands can be mundane under normal circumstances, but when I viewed this cast during lockdown, I saw it as an extraordinary gesture. The Brownings’ bronze hands symbolize our longing for touch, as well as comfort in its physical expression of love and affection, while in pandemic isolation. Above: Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, Elizabeth Barrett Browning; Robert Browning, 1853, bronze cast of clasped hands, National Portrait Gallery, London
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At the time the cast was made, it encapsulated the bond between the two writers in the face of external forces trying to keep them apart. Elizabeth Barrett was raised in a family of significant wealth, largely from her maternal grandfather’s Jamaican sugar plantation, and lived her first four decades in what has been described as reclusive confinement due in part to her father’s wishes and her frail health. She began writing poems at an early age and by 1844 had become one of England’s most popular poets. Her work attracted the attention of fellow writer Robert Browning, and after an extensive exchange of letters and 91 meetings by Robert’s count, they wed in secret, on September 12, 1846. Elizabeth’s father disinherited her following the marriage.
Opposite: Michele Gordigiani, Robert Browning, 1858, oil on canvas, given by Florence L. Barclay (Florence Louisa Barclay (née Charlesworth)), 1921. National Portrait Gallery, London; Michele Gordigiani, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1858, oil on canvas, given by Florence L. Barclay (Florence Louisa Barclay (née Charlesworth)), 1921, National Portrait Gallery, London
