Harris staff member Janet’s favourite collection item is the painting ‘Serena Reading’ by George Romney.

Romney was a native of North West England. He was born in Dalton-in-Furness in 1734 and began his painting career in Kendal. In the early 1760s, he moved to London and became famous for painting wealthy and powerful members of British society. He eventually returned to the north and died in 1802.

Janet said ‘I like this painting for several reasons. It is a beautiful portrait and I love that it is of a reader, and a woman reader at that, who is so engrossed in a book that she has read through the night; behind her dawn is just breaking. To me, it is a reflection of the Age of Enlightenment, the pursuit of knowledge and of social, political and scientific change.’