Mrs. Jordan was the leading comic actress of Georgian England, and in this portrait by English artist John Hoppner, she is painted in her role as Viola from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In the play, Viola disguises herself as a man so she can be a page for the Duke of Orsino. Mrs. Jordan (1761–1816) led a remarkable life and has been the subject of many biographies. . .

The subjects of portraits by English painter Thomas Gainsborough were more than just pretty faces. John Joseph Merlin, for instance, was an ingenious inventor and maker of musical instruments, and he’s now known as the father of the roller skate. . . .

In the galleries of the Treasures of Kenwood House exhibition, where carefully poised ladies and gallantly aloof gentlemen are an expression of 18th-century sophistication, one painting stands apart: Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight by Joseph Wright of Derby. Extraordinary in both . . .

On July 31 at 7 p.m. we will hold a salon at the Dora Maar House. The Brown Foundation Fellows in residence will present their work to the public. Presentations will be followed by informal discussions and drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the garden. . . .

This summer we are wishing "buenas vacaciones” to one of Rienzi’s paintings: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s The Nativity is on holiday, loaned to the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain. This three-part blog series discusses The Nativity and its unusual medium, and chronicles the painting’s journey overseas to the Prado with Rienzi’s director, Katherine Howe.