Her image inspired the paintings by Joshua Reynolds, Henry Fuseli, John Everett Millais, a sculpture by Thomas Banks, photographs of Lewis Carroll, sonnet of Brooke Boothby.

[1] According to art historians and historians, in the art of the 19th-20th centuries Penelope Boothby became a classic child of the Romantic era, the keeper of heavenly innocence, a symbol of “what we have lost and what we are afraid to lose.”[1] The image of Penelope was actively exploited by popular culture throughout the 20th century.

[2] Penelope's father inherited the title in 1789, was also an amateur botanist, and collaborated in his research with Erasmus Darwin.

[1] Shortly after completing the portrait, Boothby and his daughter returned to Derbyshire, where his family estate at Ashbourne was located.

[3] Penelope was a quiet girl who preferred playing with dolls in solitude to any noisy fuss, although she had a cheerful disposition.