Serena

This oil painting by George Romney depicts Serena, the heroine of a popular poem by the artist's friend and biographer, William Hayley. In The Triumphs of Temper (1781), Hayley describes Serena's enthusiasm for reading the latest romances:

"Possest by Sympathy's enchanting sway,

She read, unconscious of the dawning day.

The Modern Anecdote was next convey'd

Beneath her pillow by her faithful maid.

The nymph, attentive as the brooding dove,

Por'd o'er the tender scenes of Franzel's love:

The sinking taper now grew weak and pale;

SERENA sigh'd, and dropt th' unfinish'd tale..."

The painting in the V&A's collection is one of a number of works that Romney produced on the same theme. The Harris Museum and Art Gallery holds a version entitled Serena Reading, and the Dulwich Picture Gallery exhibited another painting with the same title in 2010, from a private collection.