Respect to the remains: Lady Callcott and art criticism in the 19th century

ABSTRACT

Lady Callcott was a British traveler who was active in criticism and art collecting. From her book Essays towards the history of painting, we can discuss the establishment of a scientific methodology for the history of art and understand the participation of women in art criticism. We argue that direct observation and description of collections, aspects observed in Callcott’s book, were resources used to attest to the authenticity of works acquired by Museums and private collectors.

KEYWORDS
Lady Maria Callcott; Essays towards the history of painting; women in art criticism