[Portrait of a Young Woman]

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79)

1870

Albumen silver print

Image: 20 × 15.2 cm (7 7/8 × 6 in.)

Taken at Freshwater, isle of Wight

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Accession no. 84.XP.219.2

This serious-looking young woman may perhaps be identified as Cameron's niece, Isabella Caroline Somers-Cocks, daughter of her sister Virginia. Isabella later married Lord Henry Somerset. Her separation from her homosexual husband caused a great scandal, but Lady Isabella Somerset is best remembered as a philanthropist, and an active supporter both of temperance and of women's rights.