Arts News: I Spy

'It was the five o'clock shadow that helped give her away – the portrait was not, as it seemed, a rather grand if slightly butch 18th-century lady with a fancy feathered hat but was in fact the Chevalier d'Eon: diplomat, soldier, spy, transvestite.
'The National Portrait Gallery has announced the acquisition of its first painted portrait of a man in woman's clothing; a cross-dresser who enjoyed considerable fame in both high society and popular culture.
'Charles Geneviève Louis Auguste André Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont, to give her full name, is one of the most important transvestites in history. She was "a fascinating and inspirational figure", said Lucy Peltz, the gallery's curator of 18th-century portraits.
'"We are absolutely delighted to be able to acquire this portrait. D'Eon is a particularly fascinating and important figure from 18th-century British history."
'The painting was discovered by the London dealerer Philip Mould at a provincial sale outside New York last year. It was being mistakenly sold as a portrait of an unknown woman by Gilbert Stuart, most famous for painting George Washington on the dollar bill...'

The Guardian.
I bet it's ruddy not the NPG's first painting of a man in drag.