A lady telling a gripping story to young women and children. Mezzotint by V. Green, 1785, after J. Opie.

"A lady sitting on the right telling a story to three young women and two children, closely clustered around her, probably in consequence of the sensational character of the tale. ... Same dimensions as last [A school after Opie] to which this is a companion. ... It is probable that some of the figures in these compositions, which are fine specimens of the British school, are portraits of Opie's wife and her relatives." --Chaloner Smith, loc. cit.

Horace Walpole's gothick novel The castle of Otranto was first published in 1764. The phrase "A winter's tale" on the present print may allude to a tale of that type, rather than to Shakespeare's play The winter's tale

London (No. 29 Newman Street, Oxford Street) : V. Green & Son ; [Paris?] : Se vend chez les frères Torre, marchands d'estampes, Dec.r 1st 1785.

1 print : mezzotint ; sheet 50 x 61.4 cm

A winter's tale. ...

J. Chaloner Smith, British mezzotinto portraits, vol. 2, London 1883, pp. 597-598, V. Green no. 157

Alfred Whitman, Valentine Green, London: A.H. Bullen, 1902, p. 158, no. 246

Wellcome Collection 674375i