The lost second portrait

Emma Aloysia Novello’s Portrait of Richard Cobden

A focused study of the 1861 portrait of the politician Richard Cobden by the artist Emma Aloysia Novello, supported by an Understanding British Portraits Fellowship in 2024.

The portrait

Emma Aloysia Novello painted an oil sketch of the politician Richard Cobden in Paris during May 1861, following his negotiation of what would become known as the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. It was presented to the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds in 1953.

BC MS NCC/20/297 Emma Novello to (Joseph) Alfred Novello 17 August 1870 1

The lost second portrait

Emma Novello's correspondence with her brother, (Joseph) Alfred Novello, reveals the existence of a second untraced portrait of Richard Cobden painted from memory, exhibited in 1868 and 1869; although praised by strangers, her attempts to sell it to Alfred for £25 were rejected due to his dissatisfaction with the likeness, possession of other portraits of Cobden and concerns about Emma's intended use of the money for travel to Paris and Rome.

BC MS NCC/9/1/64 Sketch of Clara Novello by Edward Petre Novello

Richard Cobden and the Novellos

Richard Cobden's connections with the Novello family contributed to the repeal of 'Taxes on Knowledge' following Cobden's successful negotiation of the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty, a free trade agreement between England and France that improved European relations.

BC MS NCC/10/4/1 untitled oil sketch [portrait of Emma Aloysia Novello by Henry Sass]

Emma Novello’s early life and education

Emma Aloysia Novello studied at an Augustinian convent school in Belgium before beginning her art education at John Henry Sass's drawing academy in London. She was prevented from continuing her training at the Royal Academy Schools because they did not yet admit women as students.

BC MS NCC/10/7/16 untitled watercolour [houses against mountains]

Emma Novello’s artistic practice

Emma Novello's artistic practice was most visible in public between 1859 and 1869, through participation in temporary exhibitions and involvement in advocating for women's admission to the Royal Academy Schools.

BC MS NCC/10/3/1 Copy of Notice of Admission 1

Emma Novello’s later life

Emma Novello was diagnosed with 'melancholic mania' due to caring responsibilities for an elderly aunt and was institutionalised by her older brother (Joseph) Alfred Novello, spending two decades at Otto House Lunatic Asylum until her death in 1902.

Emma Novello in context

Emma Novello's pursuit of an artistic career, supported by her family's cultural connections and financial stability, challenged social norms and gender restrictions of her time, despite the institutional barriers and economic dependencies she faced as a woman artist in mid-nineteenth-century Britain.

Bibliography

A bibliography related to research on the artist Emma Novello, the politician Richard Cobden and the social, political, economic and cultural conditions in which they lived and worked.

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Correspondence between Emma Novello and her brother (Joseph) Alfred Novello reveals the existence of a second untraced portrait of Richard Cobden, painted by Emma from memory. This version was exhibited at the Third National Portraits Exhibition at the South Kensington Museum in 1868 and at the Picture Gallery of the Crystal Palace in 1869. Emma attempted to sell the picture to Alfred for £25 in 1870, as she also tried to do with the first version of the portrait. She wrote: ‘It seems as if the portrait was to be yours after all for tho I have had infinite praise—from strangers—for my long lingering work of portrait [sic] of our friend the good “Richard Cobden” I have never sold it—strange to say—altho’ poor as I am I have need of the money for many good purposes’.

Alfred again refused to purchase the painting because he did not think it was a good likeness, he already possessed two portraits of Cobden (including the oil sketch bought by the Cowden Clarkes with whom he lived) and was concerned that the ‘good purposes’ to which she intended to put the money—to travel to Paris and Rome, ‘the very places which any prudent person would avoid visiting in their present state of unsafety and disturbance’. Despite her brother’s reservations, she travelled to Rome and stayed with the artist Joseph Severn in 1871.

The second portrait did generate ‘praise from strangers’: the Musical Times reported, ‘The name of Novello is so well known in the world of music that the public may learn with surprise how excellent an oil painting of the late Richard Cobden has been executed by Miss Emma Novello, the features of the well known apostle of free trade having been transferred to canvas with surprising fidelity’. The Morning Post followed, describing the portrait as ‘excellent’ and further, that: ‘The likeness will be recognised at a glance, and resemblance in form and feature being most striking, and the expression of the face also bespeaking the sound heart and fine intellect of the deceased statesman. The aspect of the countenance is both thoughtful and animated, and the portrait in all respects faithful and characteristic. It is entitled to honourable rank among the many modern achievements of female artists’. Despite these positive reviews, it is clear that the reception of Emma Novello’s painting was conditional and mediated by her gender.