''The Sharp Family'' is a group

portrait painting Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

by the German-British artist

Johann Zoffany Johan / Johann Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy, and India. His works appear in many prominent British collections ...

. Painted between 1779 and 1781, it portrays the English

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

and musician

Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was an English scholar, philanthropist and one of the first campaigners for the Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Born in Durham, England, Durham, he ...

and his extended family. The Sharp family are depicted on their

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, where they routinely staged concerts. In the background is the church of All Saints, Fulham, to which the family had strong links. As of 2024 the painting is on loan to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

in London from a private collection.

References

Bibliography

* Abbott, Mary. ''Family Ties: English Families 1540–1920''. Routledge, 2013. * Grant, Hester. ''The Good Sharps: The Brothers and Sisters Who Remade Their World''. Random House, 2020. * Leppert, Richard. ''Music and Image: Domesticity, Ideology and Socio-cultural Formation in Eighteenth-Century England''. Cambridge University Press, 1993. Paintings by Johann Zoffany 1781 paintings German paintings British paintings Oil on canvas paintings Group portraits by German artists Paintings in the National Gallery, London River Thames in art London in art {{1780s-painting-stub