The Princess Prattles to Her Parrot

“The Princess Prattles to her Parrot” painting

By James Edward Freeman- Part of the Byers collection

Inspired by a poem by J. Buchanan Reed

James Edward Freeman was among the earliest American artists to reside in Italy, beginning a centuries-long expatriate tradition. He received a political appointment in 1841 as a consul for the Papal States and, from then on, he lived most of his life in Rome. Portraiture and landscape were the favored subjects in American art, but Freeman was unusual in that he preferred scenes from everyday life or invented subjects, such as this one of a scantily-clad woman with an exotically colored parrot. Nudity and alluring women were not at all appreciated by American audiences then, which was one of the reasons Freeman chose to stay abroad. He advised wealthy Americans about collecting art from Europe and wrote one of the first accounts of his fellow citizens who forsook the United States to live a more artistic existence in the classical culture of Rome.

Historical records of the Hoyt Sherman Place collection previously entitled this painting The Princess and her Parrot. Recent research reveals that the artist’s original title was The Princess Prattles to her Parrot, and our changed label information reflects this discovery. To “prattle” means to speak childishly or in an inconsequential, even silly, manner.

This painting was conserved by Barry Bauman Conservation in 2016 with funds donated by Carol Pollock and Nancy Nichols.