"MARIA” Philadelphia, PA c.1820 Silk embroidery This beautiful and elegant silk embroidery depicts the story of Maria. Maria was a popular subject for school girls to stitch or paint. The heroine of Lawrence Sterne’s (born 1713) novel, “Sentimental Journey Through Italy and France” published in 1768 just three weeks before his death. Its emphasis on sentiment became a popular genre for travel writings in the late eighteenth century. Existing travel based stories emphasized classical learning and objective observations. Maria, who was naturally alluring, lost her clarity of mind after being jilted by her fiancé and went wandering with her pipe (flute) creating music that was mesmerizingly beautiful and melodic. She had a goat (who also deserted her), then acquired "Sylvio", a dog, and kept him tethered to her stating, “thou shalt not leave me”, which had a deeper meaning because her loving and anguished father recently died. This widely read story captured the imaginations of young ladies. Silk and watercolor on silk; 30” X 36” framed. Sold STEPHEN & CAROL HUBER (860) 388-6809 View Other Silk Embroidered Pictures