Rosemary Hill: Sacred Parallelogram

The careers of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Maria Cosway required constant, delicate calibration to keep the balance between personal reputation, artistic success and the need to earn a living, for neither was independently wealthy or ‘a woman of rank’. They both had supportive fathers and disastrous husbands who spent their money, failed to nurture their careers and in the end became burdensome.