Convalescent (Emma Madox Brown)   

Ford Madox Brown

Date: 1872

Materials: Pastel 

For both Ford and Emma Madox Brown, 1872 was a year "broken in upon by distressing illnesses and harassing cares". Brown was called on to help look after Rossetti, suffering from a nervous breakdown, and then fell victim to gout. In October, Emma succumbed to a feverish illness, Brown making this touching study of her to add to the many portrait drawings of his family.