Celebrating Charlotte Brontë 1816-1855

A major display of personal items, original manuscripts and works of art to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Brontë, author of Jane Eyre.

Celebrating Charlotte Brontë 1816-1855 explores the author’s life, creative development and professional success. It will include portraits from the Gallery’s Collection and 26 items from the Brontë Parsonage Museum, birthplace and home of Charlotte and her family. It will also be one of the museum’s largest ever loans, some of which have never previously been seen.

Among the treasures are paintings and drawings by Charlotte, letters and journals, the famous ‘little books’ created by the Brontë sisters as children including the first book Charlotte ever made, a pair of cloth ankle boots worn by Charlotte and first editions of Jane Eyre, her first published novel, which enjoyed immediate and enduring popularity as well as Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography, Life of Charlotte Brontë.

Central to the display will be the presentation of new research into the only surviving painted portraits of Charlotte with her two sisters, Emily and Anne, by their brother Branwell, in the Gallery’s Collection. This will explore the intriguing story of its discovery folded on top of a wardrobe, subsequent acquisition by the Gallery and its restoration.

The display will also include works from the Gallery’s Collection including the chalk drawings of Charlotte and her friend and first biographer Elizabeth Gaskell by George Richmond, alongside portraits of Charlotte Brontë’s heroes and associates such as the Duke of Wellington, poet Lord Byron and novelist William Thackeray.

Celebrating Charlotte Brontë 1816-1855 is curated by the National Portrait Gallery’s Associate Curator Rosie Broadley, assisted by Lucy Wood, Assistant Curator.