Born March 22, 1783, Sarah Goodin Barrett Moulton was the only daughter of a madeira merchant and his wife who were landowners of English background in Jamaica. One of Sarah's brothers became the father of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Sarah--known as Pinkie within her family--was sent to England for her education.. Her lonely grandmother in Jamaica commissioned a full-length portrait, "by one of the best Masters, in an easy Careless attitude". So Sarah was soon painted by renowned artist Thomas Lawrence. Lawrence placed the horizon low. (The painting is about 5 feet by 3 feet.) Sadly, Sarah died the following year, aged 12. "Pinkie" has become one of the world's most famous paintings. The painting has no relationship to Thomas Gainsborough's 1770 painting, "The Blue Boy," except that they hang in the same room in The Huntington. (I'd like to visit someday!). But the two paintings are sometimes associated, as if they were portraits of siblings. .... I have a wonderful old book of my mom's, "World Famous Paintings" ed. by Rockwell Kent (1939), that I liked to look through as a kid. The book features both of these paintings.
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