Fuseli, whose portrait Harlow was painting at the time. Still, the portrait of Mrs. Siddons herself as the queen will remain one of the most striking figures in English art. The fine engraving of it in mezzotint by George Clint has enhanced its reputation. The picture passed eventually into the possession of Mr. Morrison at Basildon Park, Berkshire. It was exhibited at Manchester in 1857. Harlow's next picture, 'The Virtue of Faith,' at the Royal Academy, lacked originality, and had less success. It was purchased by his friend Mr. Tomkisson, who divided it into pieces for the sake of the heads.
In 1818 Harlow, conscious of deficiencies in his executive powers, visited Italy for the purpose of studying the old masters. At Rome his personal gifts and accomplishments, and his remarkable powers of execution, made him the hero of the day. He was fêted and flattered in every direction. Canova was especially attracted by him, and obtained for him an introduction to the pope. Harlow, however, worked very hard, and completed a copy of Raphael's 'Transfiguration' in eighteen days. He was elected a member for merit of the Academy of St. Luke at Rome, a most unusual distinction for an English artist, and was invited to paint his own portrait for the Uffizi gallery of painters at Florence. He painted a picture of 'Wolsey receiving the Cardinal's Hat in Westminster Abbey,' and presented it to the Academy at Rome. His artistic progress in Italy was remarkable, but on his return to England on 13 Jan. 1819 he was seized with a glandular affection of the throat, which being neglected proved fatal on 4 Feb. He was in his thirty-second year. He was buried under the altar of St. James's, Piccadilly, and his funeral was attended by the eminent artists of the day. An exhibition of his principal works was held in Pall Mall. His collections, including many sketches, were sold by auction 21 June 1819.
Harlow is one of the most attractive figures in the history of English painting. His works only suggest what he might have achieved. Many of his portraits have been engraved, and those of Northcote, Fuseli, Stothard, Beechey, Flaxman, and others are highly esteemed. His own portrait, painted by himself for the gallery at Florence, was engraved for Ranalli's 'Imperiale e Reale Galleria di Firenze.' A drawing from it by J. Jackson, R.A., was bequeathed to the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in 1888 by the painter's nephew, G. Harlow White. Another drawing by himself was engraved by B. Holl for the 'Library of the Fine Arts.' His own portrait is introduced in the background in the picture of 'The Trial of Queen Katharine.' A portrait of the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV) by Harlow was engraved in mezzotint by W. Ward.
[Cunningham's Lives of the British Painters; Elmes's Annals of the Fine Arts, vols. ii-iv.; Arnold's Library of the Fine Arts, ii. 245; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Jerdan's Autobiography, vol. iii. chap. v.; J. T. Smith's Nollekens and his Times, vol. ii.]
HARLOWE, SARAH (1765–1852), actress, was born in London in 1765. Under the name of Mrs. Harlowe she made her first appearance on the stage at Colnbrook, near Slough, in 1787, removing in the following year to Windsor, where she met Francis Godolphin Waldron, and became his wife. Waldron was prompter of the Haymarket Theatre, London, manager of the Windsor and Richmond theatres, a bookseller, an occasional actor at the Haymarket and Drury Lane, manager of the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, the writer of several comedies, and a Shakespearean scholar. He died in March 1818, in his seventy-fifth year (Gent. Mag. March 1818, p. 283). Through the interest of her husband Mrs. Harlowe obtained an engagement at Sadler's Wells, where as a singer, actor, and performer in pantomimes she gained some celebrity. She made her appearance at Covent Garden on 4 Nov. 1790 in the ‘Fugitive.’ She was the original singer of ‘Down in the country lived a lass,’ the song generally introduced into ‘Lady Bell.’ In 1792 she was at the Haymarket, whence she went to Drury Lane, where she sustained the characters of smart chambermaids, romps, shrews, and old women, and then removed to the English Opera House. At the opening of the Royalty Theatre, London, under the direction of William Macready, on 27 Nov. 1797, Mrs. Harlowe played in the musical sketch entitled ‘Amurath the Fourth, or the Turkish Harem,’ and also in the pantomime, the ‘Festival of Hope, or Harlequin in a Bottle.’ In 1816 she was playing Lady Sneerwell at Drury Lane. She was a low comedy actress, who without any splendid talent had such a complete knowledge of stage requirements that her services were most useful in any theatre. Her figure was neat, and she often assumed male characters. Her best parts were Lucy in the ‘Rivals,’ the Widow Warren in the ‘Road to Ruin,’ Miss Mac-Tab in the ‘Poor Gentleman,’ and the old Lady Lambert in the ‘Hypocrite.’ She, however, essayed the majority of Mrs. Jordan's characters, and played them with considerable success. In 1826 she retired from the stage, having on 21 Feb. in that year played Mrs. Foresight in the farce of ‘John Bull’ at Drury Lane. She was one of the original
