Portrait of Margaret Cavendish Full-length portrait of Margaret Cavendish standing in a niche. She is flanked by the classical figures of Athena, goddess of wisdom, on the left side of the image and Apollo, god of truth and the arts, on the right side. Cavendish is shown in flowing robes, a beaded necklace and a small crown and is presented turned slightly towards her left. She is seen holding the folds of her robes with her left hand, with her feet visible underneath. The plinth below her niche is surrounded by cornucopias and contains a sonnet praising her beauty and intellect written by her husband William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1593-1676). The poem was published as the preface to her fiction work The Blazing World (1666). Engraved after Abraham Diepenbeeck (1596-1675). 1662