A Space of Their Own

Susan Penelope Rosse

1652 – 1700

Active in: England
Alternate names: Susannah Penelope Rosse; Susan Penelope Gibson

Biography

Susan Penelope Rosse was a British painter born in 1652. Her father was the miniature painter Richard Gibson, and she developed her own practice as a portrait miniaturist. She married a jeweler, Michael Rosse, and the couple lived together in London until her death in 1700. She painted friends from elite circles in London as well as members of the court of Charles II of England.

Selected Works

An oval-shaped portrait of a light-skinned woman with brown hair swept back from her face, with a yellow cloth or veil draped over the top and back of her head. She wears a bright blue dress with a wide neckline, and no jewelry.

Susan Penelope Rosse, Portrait of a Lady, called Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, ca. 1690–95. Watercolor on vellum laid on card with gessoed back, 8.3 x 6.8 cm. Royal Collection Trust

An oval shaped portrait of a light-skinned man with long, curly gray hair past his shoulders, blue eyes, and a prominent nose. He wears silver armor with a blue sash, and has a large white collar under his chin.

Susan Penelope Rosse, James II, ca. 1685. Watercolor on vellum, 3 x 2.6 cm. Royal Collection Trust

An oval shaped portrait in profile view of a light-skinned woman with long, curled brown hair in an updo. She wears a yellow dress with slightly scalloped sleeves, and looks out at the viewer with a serious expression.

Susan Penelope Rosse, A Woman, presumably a Self-portrait, ca. 1680. Watercolour on vellum put down on a leaf from a table-book, 8 x 6.4 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum

An oval portrait of a light-skinned man with long, dark-blonde curly hair past his shoulders and a round face. He is wearing silver armor and a large white lacy collar, and is looking to his right out of the corners of his eyes.

Susan Penelope Rosse, Unknown Man, ca. 1695. Watercolour on vellum put down on a leaf from a table-book, 2.8 x 2.4 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum

A round portrait of a young woman with very light skin, pink lips, and curly brown hair in an updo. She wears a yellow dress witha blue sleeve and looks directly out at the viewer.

Susan Penelope Rosse, Louise Renée de Penancoet de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, ca. 1682-1685. Watercolour on vellum put down on pasteboard, 2.3 x 1.9 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum

An oval portrait of a light-skinned woman with pale blonde or gray hair in a large updo. Her clothing is white and pink, with a draped neckline.

Susan Penelope Rosse, Mrs. Pru Phillips, ca. 1690. Watercolour on vellum put down on a leaf from a table-book,7.5 x 5.9 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum

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Selected works
 

Circle

Daughter of
Richard Gibson

Bibliography

A Checklist of Painters ca. 1200–1976 Represented in the Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of Art, London. London: Mansell, 1978.

Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: Bio-bibliographischer Index A–Z. Munich: Saur, 1999–2000.

Draper, Helen. “Mary Beale and Art’s Lost Laborers: Women Painter Stainers.” Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal 10 (2015): 141–51.

“Gibson, Susan Penelope Rosse, or Rosse.” Oxford Art Online. https://doi-org.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00073556.

Goulding, R. W. “The Welbeck Abbey Miniatures Belonging to His Grace the Duke of Portland, K.G., G.V.C.O. A Catalogue Raisonné.” Walpole Society (1916): 48–49.

MacLeod, Catharine, et al. Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II. London: National Portrait Gallery, 2001.

Sanderson, William. Graphice, the Use of the Pen and Pensil, or, The most excellent art of painting: in two parts. London, 1658.

“Susanna Penelope Rosse.” RKD. https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/68335.

Waterhouse, Ellis. The Dictionary of 16th and 17th Century British Painters. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1988.