Born Amy Lyon in 1765 and the daughter of a blacksmith, the refashioned “Emma” Hamilton would become one of the most celebrated personalities of her time. As the companion and then wife of Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy to Naples, Lady Hamilton charmed and entertained guests with her singing and famous “attitudes,” dramatic poses that wordlessly acted out mythological characters. The auburn-haired beauty was a favorite subject for George Romney, who wrote to her in Naples in 1786 that his work on a series of her attitudes was progressing well, especially her re-enactment of Medea, the sorceress and forsaken wife of Jason in the Greek tale of Jason and the Argonauts. In his letter, Romney describes the classical picture as one of “Medea with her hair floating in the air.”
Details
- Artist Name: George Romney (English, 1734-1802)
- Title: Lady Hamilton As "Medea"
- Date: c. 1786
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 29-1/4 x 25-1/4 in. (74.3 x 64.1 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1965.1.058.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
British Consul at Leghorn, sold to;
British family named O’Cluse, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany (the O’Cluse ancestors purchased the painting in Leghorn, Italy early in the 19th century);
A. Ruck, London, purchased from the O'Cluse heirs through the British Consul General at Frankfurt, then sold 21 September 1926 to;
[Duveen Bros., London, stock no. 28636, sold 1965 to];
Norton Simon Foundation (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 27 June 1973, lot 13, unsold and returned to);
The Norton Simon Foundation.
- Fogg Art Museum, 1930 to 1930
Opening Exhibition
- Springfield, Museum of Fine Arts, 1933 to 1933
Forty British Portraits
- New York, Duveen Galleries, 1940 to 1940
Lady Hamilton in Relation to the Art of Her Time
- Kenwood, Iveagh Bequest, 1972-07-18 to 1972-10-16
Eight Paintings from the Norton Simon Foundation Collection
- Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, 1977-04 to 1984-03
Six Centuries of Portraiture from the Permanent Collection
- Norton Simon Museum, 1989-11-02 to 1990-12-16
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
- Frankfurter, Alfred M., Art News, p. 4
- Frankfurter, Alfred M., Art News, p. 9
- Comstock, Helen, The Connoisseur, pp. 28-29
- Frankfurter, Alfred M., Art News, p. 64
- Preston, Stuart, New York Times,
- Roskill, Mark, Art News, p. 13
- Tillim, Sidney, Arts, p. 57
- Frankfurter, Alfred M., Art News, p. 56
- The Burlington Magazine, p. 645
- Ward, Humphrey; and W. Roberts, Romney a Biographical and Critical Essay, 1904, pp. 67, 183
- Fraser, Flora, Beloved Emma. The Life of Emma Lady Hamilton, 1986, between pp. 210-211
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D49 p. 445
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