Two Women
Wearing
Cosmetic Patches
Saved for the nation in 2023 and having undergone an 18-month conservation and research project at the Yale Center for British Art, Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches (c.1655) is now open for public display at Compton Verney.
Read on for some information about the display, and to preview a video on the conservation process, or to find out more from our curator, Jane, on this painting please visit her essay.
Opening Times
Tue – Sun: 10am – 4.30pm
Mondays: Closed, except bank holidays
Galleries are open 10.30am – 4.30pm
Christmas Opening Hours
Christmas Eve: 10am – 3pm
Christmas Day: Closed
Boxing Day: Closed
27 – 29 Dec: Open as usual
New Years Eve: 10am – 3pm
New Years Day: Open as usual
About the
Exhibition
Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches (c.1655) will be on display in the Women’s Library at Compton Verney from 21 November.
The painting is the centrepiece of a display that reveals insights to attitudes towards morality and race.
Displayed alongside the painting will be John Bulwer’s famous book Anthrometamorphosis: the man transform’d or, the artificiall changeling (1653) and Francis Hawkin’s A discourse upon some innovations of habits and dressings against powdring of hair, Naked-Breasts, Black Spots and other unseemly Customes,1653, on loan from Trinity College, Cambridge. Both books bear illustrations that are similar to the painting and give context to the potential reason for the paintings creation.
There will also be a short video about the conservation process and research project the painting has undergone at Yale Center for British Art.
Whilst on display we hope to work with artists and community groups to encourage conversation regarding the nature and messages within the painting.
This film was made by the Yale Center for British Art in 2024 whilst the painting was on loan to the museum from Compton Verney.
“We were delighted to have been supported by National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund to be able to save for the nation this fascinating painting in 2023 and add it to Compton Verney’s collection via Compton Verney Collection Settlement.
Through work with our colleagues at the Yale Center for British Art we have gained further insight and greater understanding of the painting and its context. This unusual work offers us a unique insight into societal attitudes and artistic development during one of the most tumultuous times in British history. The subject matter reveals the disturbing and widespread beliefs that shaped the perception of women and foreigners in this period, and the terrible ramifications this had on their lives. We look forward to sharing the work and its context further with visitors to Compton Verney during its two-year display period and to working with artists and our broader community to explore it further.”
Compton Verney Director, Geraldine Collinge
