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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle

Viva la divas: First Actresses at the National Portrait Gallery – in pictures

NPG First Actresses: Nell Gwyn by Simon Verelst, c.1680
Nell Gwyn by Simon Verelst, c1680 Photograph: National Portrait Gallery London
NPG First Actresses: Lavinia Fenton, probably by George Knapton, c.1739
Lavinia Fenton, probably by George Knapton, c1739 Photograph: Private Collection
NPG First Actresses: Frances Abington as Prue in Congreve’s Love for Love
Frances Abington as Prue in Congreve’s Love for Love by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1771 Photograph: Paul Mellon Collection/Yale Center for British Art
NPG First Actresses: The Three Witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth
The Three Witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Daniel Gardner, 1775 Photograph: The National Portrait Gallery
NPG First Actresses: Shakespeare’s Hamlet
William Smith as Hamlet and Elizabeth Hopkins as Gertrude in Shakespeare’s Hamlet by James Roberts, 1777-8 Photograph: Garrick Club/The Art Archive
NPG First Actresses: An Actress at Her Toilet
An Actress at Her Toilet or Miss Brazen Just Breecht by John Collett, c1779
Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum
NPG First Actresses: Giovanna Baccelli by Thomas Gainsborough
Giovanna Baccelli by Thomas Gainsborough, exhibited 1782 Photograph: Tate, London/National Portrait Gallery
NPG First Actresses: Henry Angelo as Mrs Cole in ‘The Minor’
Henry Angelo as Mrs Cole in The Minor by Samuel de Wilde, c1792 Photograph: Garrick Club/The Art Archive
NPG First Actresses: Dilettante Theatricals by James Gillray, 1803
Dilettante Theatricals: or a Peep at the Green Room by James Gillray, 1803
Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum
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