Mrs. Sheridan as St. Cecilia

The artist was the eldest daughter and co-heir of Edmond Sexten, Viscount Pery, of Newton Pery, Limerick, Speaker in Ireland between 1771 and 1785. She married Thomas Knox, later 1st Earl of Ranfurly, in 1785. The original portrait by Reynolds, now at Waddesdon Manor, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1775 (no.222), and was engraved by William Dickinson. Elizabeth Anne Linley was reputed to possess one of the most beautiful voices in England at the time of her marriage to Richard Brinsley Sheridan, in 1773, which explains the role which Reynolds gave her in his portrait.