Bust of Percy Bysshe Shelly

William Ordway Partridge, born Paris, France 1861-died New York City 1930 · copyrighted 1899

William Ordway Partridge created numerous idealized portraits of famous writers, musicians, and artists. He used his own experience as a writer and poet to model sensitive images of the artists, often portraying them deep in thought. In this portrait the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) is shown with a downward gaze and slightly tilted head. His dreamy expression evokes a sense of introspection, as if he is away in a world of his own.