Portrait of a Lady, seated, three-quarter-length

From the mid 1790s, possibly in response to criticisms of the uniformity of his oval chalk drawings, Downman altered his style. His portraits became larger in scale and of a rectangular format, as well as more telling representations of the personality of the sitter. (See J. Monro, John Downman 1750-1824, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1996, p. 72.)