Emily's portrait back home

If for some strange reason you were hesitating as to whether make it to the Brontë Parsonage Museum to see the unique exhibition on Emily Brontë: No Coward Soul, this should finally push you into going.

Apart from all the totally worth it items on display, the exhibition now houses temporarily two well-known pieces of Brontëana: the Gondal Poems manuscript and Branwell's famous fragment of his sister Emily, on loan from the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery respectively. The portrait will be 'back home' on display until September. Seeing both items where they were initially created promises to be an unforgettable and hardly repeatable experience.

Picture source.

EDIT: Brontë Parsonage Press Release:

Emily Portrait Comes Home to Haworth

A National Portrait Gallery Loan and rare poems manuscript return to Haworth for first time in nearly 150 years to crown 2008 exhibition ‘No Coward Soul’ at The Brontė Parsonage Museum.

As part of the Brontė Parsonage Museum’s 2008 exhibition focusing on Emily Brontė, the museum is delighted to able to display her Gondal poems notebook and a rare portrait of Emily painted by her brother Branwell. Both of these items are currently on loan to the Brontė Parsonage Museum for a limited time only.

In 1861, after the Brontės had died, the Gondal poems notebook left Haworth for Ireland with Charlotte’s widower Arthur Bell Nicholls. Following his death in 1907, the manuscript was auctioned in a sale at Sotheby’s and purchased by Mrs George Smith, widow of Charlotte’s publisher. It was then bequeathed to the British Library in London by the Smith family and for the first time since 1861, returns to the Parsonage where it was originally composed.

The iconic portrait of Emily by her brother Branwell was once part of a larger painting called ‘The Gun Group’ portrait. It was cut out by Arthur Bell Nicholls on the death of Patrick Brontė in 1861 and was later found on top of a wardrobe along with ‘The Brontė Sisters’ portrait (also by Branwell) by Arthur’s second wife Mary Ann Nicholls after his death. It is now owned by the National Portrait Gallery. This is a very rare opportunity for visitors to see the portrait outside of its usual London location. (Jenna Holmes)

Also published on the Brontë Parsonage Blog.

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Emily Brontë