Studies of female figures seated and reclining for 'Serena in the Boat of Apathy' (recto), and a study of a windswept female figure (verso)

This sheet of studies appear to relate to Romney's painting 'Serena in the Boat of Apathy' (see A. Kidston, George Romney: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, III, London and New Haven, 2015, no. 1796, pp. 826-27). Serena is the heroine of William Hayley's (1745-1820) 1780 poem 'The Triumphs of Temper'. The painting illustrates Canto III of the poem where Serena dreams of visiting 'the realms, where Spleen's infernal agents goad/The ghostly tenants of her drear abode'. The titular character is depicted in the painting in a reclined position in a boat, in which she is propelled by the figure of Apathy across the Gulf of Indolence.

Other sheets studying the character of Serena exist, including a pen and ink sketch in the Tate, London (inv. T08547), which observes Serena in an upright position, as in the study in the upper left of the present drawing.

We are grateful to Alex Kidson for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.