John Francis Rigaud - Stephen Peter Rigaud AndMary Anne Rigaud

Caption from the museum



This portrait, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1778, shows the children of the artist's brother, James Stephen Rigaud, Astronomer Royal: Stephen Peter Rigaud (1774–1839), who was four, and his elder sister, who was seven. They are seen playfully embracing each other in Richmond Park; the building in the background is Kew Observatory, where their father was employed. S. P. Rigaud spent his later years at Oxford, where he was Savilian Professor of Geometry, 1810–1827 and of Astronomy, 1827–1839.