Group portrait of Lady Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby, with her infant son Edward, later 13th Earl of Derby, and her half-sister, Lady Augusta Campbell 

Angelica Kauffmann’s group portrait presents Lady Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby, with her infant son and half-sister, painted with oils on canvas. The composition is structured around a gentle, idealized vision of aristocratic leisure, using soft colors and diffused light to evoke a sentimental mood. The figures are arranged in a carefully balanced triangular form. Kauffmann employs neoclassicism, visible in the classical drapery and the pastoral setting, which serves to ennoble the subjects by associating them with timeless ideals of beauty and virtue. The harp, played by Lady Augusta, is not merely a musical instrument, but a semiotic signifier of harmony, education and refinement, all of which were highly valued attributes in aristocratic society. The painting subtly navigates the codes of representation and social expectations. The Countess, positioned centrally, anchors the family's status, while the sister's musical offering suggests the cultivation of the arts. The work encapsulates the period's aesthetic values and social structures. It portrays an image of serene domesticity but equally reflects how social roles and cultural values were meticulously constructed and conveyed through art.