Henry Blundell of Ince 1723/4 - 1810

The sitter is shown grasping an over life-sized head of the Apollo Lykeios. A life-size restored bust of this type is in Blundell's collection. Anna Tonelli was born in Florence and was the daughter of a miniaturist. She taught drawing to the children of the 2nd Lord Clive who employed her as a governess in London and India 1794-1802. She exhibited works as the Royal Academy in 1794 and 1797. Stylistically her work is close to the Irish portrait painter Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739-1808). This is one of the artworks presented by the Liverpool Royal Institution. Liverpool’s economic development grew directly from Britain’s involvement with transatlantic slavery: the kidnapping, enslavement and forced migration of people from West Africa to the Americas and many to the Caribbean. Many members of the Royal Institution made their fortunes directly through the trade or indirectly through the wider economy. This wealth was largely how they were able to bring rare art and treasures, such as this, to the city.