I suppose this painting is captivating mostly because it’s not a usual portrait.
Frances “Fanny” Abington (1737-1815) was one of the most finest and celebrated actresses of the 18th century. Joshua Reynolds painted her several times, but this one is unique becasue it depicts Fanny Abington
while staying in character,
called Miss Prue, who appears in William Congreve’s(1670-1729) play Love for Love. In the role of Miss Prue, oriiginally characterized as a sill, awkward country girl, Fanny Abington “scandalized the public with her latent eroticism”. ((Antoine Lilti: The Invention of Celebrity. Polity Press, 2017))