Goodridge was born in
Templeton, Massachusetts, the sixth child and third daughter of Ebenezer Goodridge and his wife Beulah Childs. At an early age, she began drawing and showed an aptitude for art. Women's educational opportunities were limited at the time and where Goodridge lived, so she was largely a self-taught artist. She stayed with her brother,
William M. Goodrich, for a few months in
Milton, and attended a boarding school there. She also got a few drawing lessons in Boston where she accompanied her brother. In Boston, she also met
Gilbert Stuart who took an interest in her work. He critiqued her work, gave her instruction in technique, and in 1825 she made a portrait of him, which he claimed to be the only true likeness ever done of him. and began receiving lessons and painting miniature portraits. She earned enough from commissions to support herself and her family for several decades. She eventually specialized in miniatures painted on ivory, Goodridge became well known for her portraits of politician
Daniel Webster and fellow artist
Gilbert Stuart. Among Goodridge's works is a miniature portrait of her own bared breasts, titled
Beauty Revealed, now in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York. The miniature was painted on a sliver of ivory that measured just 2 5/8 by 3 1/8 inches. Executed in 1828, it was presented by the artist to her close friend, correspondent, and occasional subject,
Daniel Webster. The work was included in the retrospective "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions." It was the inspiration for a miniature painted by the fictional heroine of
Blindspot: A Novel (New York, 2008), by
Jane Kamensky and
Jill Lepore. File:Sarah Goodridge - Mrs. John Watson (Matilda) - 1948.3.2 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg|
Matilda, circa 1825 File:Sarah Goodridge - Elizabeth Greenleaf Parsons (1758-1829) - 1956.63 - Fogg Museum.jpg|
Elizabeth Greenleaf Parsons File:Daniel Webster (1825) by Sarah Goodridge.jpg|Portrait of
Daniel Webster, 1825 File:Sarah Goodridge - Gilbert Stuart - 1999.27.16 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg|
Gilbert Stuart, miniature on a fob File:Gilbert Stuart crop.jpg|Portrait of
Gilbert Stuart, 1825 File:The Studious Youth (master Edward Appleton) by Sarah Goodridge.jpg|
The Studious Youth (Edward Appleton) File:Sarah Goodridge - Emily Appleton - 1942.11.1 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg|
Emily Appleton File:Sarah Goodridge - Beulah Appleton - 1942.11.7 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg|
Beulah Appleton and her cat File:Sarah Goodridge Beauty Revealed The Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|
Beauty Revealed, 1828 self-portrait, Metropolitan Museum of Art ==References==