An alert for today, March 5, in London:
Talk by Sharon Wright
Lunchtime lecture
5 March 2026, 13.00-14.00
Ondaatje Wing Theatre, National Portrait Gallery
Join author Sharon Wright as we celebrate International Women’s Day and explore the story of the iconic and much-loved Brontë portraits in the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection.
Sharon explores the famous portraits’ journey from the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth, where Patrick Branwell Brontë painted his sisters Anne, Emily and Charlotte in 1834, to their discovery, folded and forgotten atop a wardrobe after many years. The paintings caused a sensation when they were rediscovered and acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, attracting large crowds when they went on display in 1914. Even today these fascinating portraits are among the most popular in the Collection.
Sharon will also explore the most pressing questions around the portraits. Why does the group painting of the sisters, who wrote masterpieces including Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and the enigmatic painting of Emily, continue to hold every new generation in thrall? Why did their brother paint a pillar over himself? And why is he and his other sisters ripped from the other? And why was the damage to the portraits preserved? Join Sharon to learn of the long road that wound from West Yorkshire to London via Ireland and the portraits’ rightful place in our national heritage – against all the odds.
Please note, there will be a book signing with Sharon Wright immediately after the talk in the Main Gallery shop (14.00-14.30).
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