Beauty Revealed

According to Daniel Webster’s descendants, Goodridge made this miniature self-portrait for the statesman. The museum preserves that family account without presenting the commission as independently established. The small object’s private history remains only partly known.

The image is confined to a female torso at chest level. This unusual fragment differs from a conventional facial portrait.

Translucent white gauze crosses the upper edge. Differences between fabric and skin are described within a very small format.

Gauze gathers in overlapping folds below. The pale surround reveals subtle transitions in the body’s colour.

A small brown mark appears on the skin. An individual detail remains within the carefully selected fragment.

The red case edge surrounds a pale inner border. The housing belongs to an object intended for close, private handling.

Goodridge opened a Boston studio in 1820 and supported relatives through her work. Gilbert Stuart advised her. This professional miniaturist made an unusual personal image whose transfer is known through a family account.