Brilliant Women

Yesterday I stumbled into the National Portrait Gallery’s Brilliant Women exhibition about the 18th century women who formed the Bluestocking circle.

Natalie Bennett has a more thorough review up on My London Your London, and the museum also has some fairly in depth information on their website, including audio commentaries. With the obvious exception of Mary Wollstonecraft, the only woman from the exhibition whose work I’ve actually come into contact with before was the poet Ann Yearsley, dismissively called “Lactilla” because she was a milkmaid and, yep, not really part of this aristocratic circle of scholarly and literary women.

As well as showcasing some interesting portraits, it was interesting to see the museum documenting some women’s history.

Definitely worth a visit, and it’s also free so no excuse for Londoners not to go!

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