Painted lady of passion

They were a surprising couple. When they met, Georgina was 42 and the mother of nine children, an established society hostess, the wife of one of the richest men in England. Landseer was 21, a prodigious talent beginning to make a name for himself. But the attraction seems to have been immediate, fuelled by a mutual interest in art. Landseer taught Georgina to etch; she etched his pictures, and he sketched her frequently.

Their relationship is documented in hundreds of drawings, most of which have never been published or exhibited. Contrasting with the oil paintings for which he is best known, these sketches are immediate, vivid and full of emotion. Rachel Trethewey, author of a new biography of Georgina, says: "I had spent time trying to build up a strong case about how their affair could have worked, but for me, seeing these pictures said it all. They are almost like a pictorial diary of their love affair. You can see how he felt about her. Although by the time these were done, Georgina was middle-aged and matronly, in his pictures you see this very sexy, voluptuous woman."

One shows Georgina reclining languidly, as if half asleep, the sketchy folds of her clothes falling back to reveal one naked breast. In another, she is pictured tenderly helping her youngest child, Lady Rachel Russell, who is believed to have been Landseer’s love child. They are intimate, informal pictures, unusual for the time, clearly implying the relationship between artist and subject.

Born into the Scottish nobility, a daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gordon, Georgina had a role in society to fulfil: to marry well. "She made a dynastic marriage. Although she did love the Duke, it didn’t fulfil her passionate side. My view is that Landseer was something for herself. She was in her forties, and had been depressed. Suddenly, when she met Landseer, all the letters are saying she is looking fantastic again. For both her and Landseer, the relationship was very fundamental."

Trethewey believes Georgina was instrumental in introducing Landseer to Scotland. His first trip to the Highlands took place in 1824, the year after they met. It was a turning point in his painting: from then on, his backgrounds, which had been weak and uncertain, became deft and atmospheric. "She was his muse in a lot of ways," says Trethewey. "I think they gave each other heightened perceptions."

Brought up in Gordon Castle, near Fochabers in Morayshire, Georgina always regarded Scotland as home, and it was in Scotland that her relationship with Landseer had space to blossom, away from prying eyes. She rented Doune, a house on the Rothiemurcus estate, to which the lovers retreated. It is said that one rainy afternoon there they cooked a meal together, inventing the dish known as pommes duchesse.

The Duke, who was 15 years older than his wife, seems to have been well aware of the relationship, but he continued to be Landseer’s patron, and the two men even became friends. Georgina seemed to balance the demands of both men, being attentive to her husband, but giving Landseer, who was much more prone to jealousy, the quality time he needed.

Trethewey says: "It worked because of the characters of the two men. The Duke was very mellow and tolerant. He gave Georgina stability and position, Landseer gave her passion, excitement. She needed both aspects in her life. At times, I think neither man was entirely happy with the situation, but neither wanted to lose her because she was so life-enhancing."

If the Duke had desired, he could have divorced Georgina, exposing her to the contempt of society. Her sister Susan, former Duchess of Manchester, was divorced by her husband and became a social outcast. But Georgina’s husband even tried to protect her from the worst effects of gossip. Although he must have doubted that Lady Rachel was his child - at the time of her likely conception, both Georgina and Landseer were away in Scotland - he always treated her as his own, saving her from the shame of illegitimacy.

Trethewey says: "Aristocrats did have affairs in those days. After an heir was born, and probably a second child, couples did drift apart. But people had to do it discreetly and, ideally, it was with people of the same class and other married people. Georgina broke away from that by having a younger lover who was unmarried, an artistic genius who looked wonderful, like Mr Darcy. More than most women at that time, she wasn’t a victim, she had it all on her own terms." There is little doubt for Trethewey that Lady Rachel was Landseer’s daughter. He sketched her more than any of the other children, and kept some of the sketches until he died. On Georgina’s death, a letter from the executor of her will to her eldest son, Wriothesley, speaks of a "painful secret" concerning Rachel’s position.

It is believed that Landseer proposed to Georgina in 1839 when the Duke died. Why she turned him down is a mystery. Trethewey believes that, as well as the fact that she was still in mourning for her husband’s death, she knew Landseer was mentally unstable. His illness grew worse as he grew older, aggravated by two head injuries, and he died insane.

"When he proposed to Georgina, he was at the height of his powers, Queen Victoria loved him, he was very eligible, in his late thirties and very handsome. But there was a very dark side to Landseer. He was interested in the occult, in murderers, all that sort of thing. He was a genius, but quite unstable. She was a mother figure, lover, everything to him. Although he was incredibly handsome and very sought after by society women, he never married anyone else."

Mistress of the Arts: the passionate life of Georgina, Duchess of Bedford, by Rachel Trethewey, is published by Headline on 29 July.