Primary sourcePainting1797
Mary Wollstonecraft
John Opie · 1797
John Opie's 1797 oil portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft, painted near the end of her life, now the best-known image of her.
This is the defining portrait of Wollstonecraft, painted near the end of her life.
About this source
What it is
This is an oil portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft painted by John Opie in 1797. It is held by the National Portrait Gallery.
Why it matters
The painting was made while Wollstonecraft was pregnant with her second daughter, who would grow up to write Frankenstein as Mary Shelley. Wollstonecraft died shortly after giving birth that year. This portrait has become the standard image used to represent her in books and articles.
Look closer
- What impression of Wollstonecraft does the painter create through her pose and expression?
- Why might this particular portrait have become the one most associated with her, rather than any other image?
- What does a portrait like this tell us, and what does it leave out, about a person's life and ideas?
This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Mary Wollstonecraft on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
More Mary Wollstonecraft sources
Meet the AI Mary Wollstonecraft →
BookPrimary source
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft · 1792
Primary source
A Vindication of the Rights of Men
Mary Wollstonecraft · 1790
BookPrimary source
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
Mary Wollstonecraft · 1796
Primary source
Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
William Godwin · 1798
BookPrimary source
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Edmund Burke · November 1790
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