Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-opie-406" aria-label="More by John Opie" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Opie</a>
Mary Wollstonecraft Mrs William Godwin
Purchased 1884
adults
author
book - non-specific
desk
furnishings
Godwin, Mary
individuals: female
ink bottle
literary
named individuals
objects
people
portraits
quill pen
reading, writing, printed matter
Wollstonecraft, Mary
woman
work and occupations
<p>Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was a ground-breaking feminist. This portrait shows her in a pose more typically used for male sitters during this period. She looks directly towards us, momentarily distracted from her studies. The painting was made around the time she published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Wollstonecraft argued against the idea that women were naturally inferior to men and emphasised the importance of equal education. Her radical views on liberty and equality led her to support the French Revolution (1789–99).</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2024</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
19 July 2004 – 27 June 2005
2005-06-27
1 March 2004
2004-03-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2004-07-19
Sensibility
Collection based display
30 April 2007 – 21 October 2007
2007-10-21
23 April 2007
2007-04-23
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-04-30
1807 - Blake, Slavery, and the Radical Mind
Collection based display
13 March 2008 – 15 June 2008
2008-06-15
13 March 2008 – 15 June 2008
2008-06-15
2008-03-13
National Portrait Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.npg.org.uk
2008-03-13
Brilliant Women: 18th-Century Bluestockings
Loan-out
31 October 2008 – 1 March 2009
2009-03-01
31 October 2008 – 1 March 2009
2009-03-01
2008-10-31
British Library (London, UK)
2008-10-31
Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britain's Freedom and Rights
Loan-out
20 May 2019 – 23 February 2020
2020-02-23
20 May 2019 – 23 February 2020
2020-02-23
2019-05-20
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2019-05-20
John Opie
Collection based display
26 September 2022
26 September 2022
2022-09-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-09-26
Gallery 10
Collection based display
Mary Wollstonecraft (Mrs William Godwin)
support: 759 × 638 mm
frame: 1005 × 875 × 130 mm
Purchased 1884
<div class="text">
<p>Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was a ground-breaking feminist. This portrait shows her in a pose more typically used for male sitters during this period. She looks directly towards us, momentarily distracted from her studies. The painting was made around the time she published A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). Wollstonecraft argued against the idea that women were naturally inferior to men and emphasised the importance of equal education. Her radical views on liberty and equality led her to support the French Revolution (1789–99).</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
adults author book - non-specific desk furnishings Godwin, Mary individuals: female ink bottle literary named individuals objects people portraits quill pen reading, writing, printed matter Wollstonecraft, Mary woman work and occupations