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Lady Hamilton's Attitudes (Plate II)

Maker

(artist)
1758-1835

(engraver)
ca. 1752-1824 (Life dates)

Title

Lady Hamilton's Attitudes (Plate II)

Medium

medium : material : ink & support : material : paper

Dimensions

Height: 27.6 cm
Width: 22.8 cm

Accession Number

G.1990.WL.3366.3

Mode of Acquisition

Witt Library, transfer, 1990

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords










Related Works

Drawings at Naples (Lady Hamilton's Attitudes)

Label Text

A print of Lady Hamilton, in one of her famous 'attitudes'. She is shown, with her arms clasped and wearing a long shawl over her head, in the act of descending steps. Emma, Lady Hamilton, performed her classically-inspired 'attitudes' from 1787 to audiences of invited guests in Naples, where her husband Sir William was British Envoy. She based her poses on scenes from Greek vase paintings.

In 1794 the attitudes were the subject of a set of prints by Tommaso Piroli. Owing to the popularity of Neoclassical fashions, the images soon became widespread. Subsequent editions were published throughout the nineteenth century. Piroli’s prints (and implicitly Lady Hamilton, by then resident back in London) were also the subject of satire. In 1807, they were mocked by printmaker James Gillray in a series which cast the renowned beauty as an ungainly frump.

Notes

The name of the etcher is not printed on any sheet in this set. Attribution to Tommaso Piroli is based on the catalogued images in the National Maritime Museum, London (www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/nelson) and the British Museum, London (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1873-0809-131-143) which are the same images as these. It is thought that the cover page G.1990.WL.3367.1 is an engraving while the subsequent prints are etchings. Further details regarding the attribution and the context for these works can be seen here: https://bilbaomuseoa.eus/uploads/salas_lecturas/archivo_in-39.pdf. This print could be from any number of editions published between 1794 and 1880 but it was likely published after 1801 in conjunction with G.1990.WL.3367 (see https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/11635/CONTOGOURIS_Ersy_2014_these.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y pp. 115-7). Cf also: https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/6/collection/655734/emma-lady-hamiltons-attitudes-plate-ii

Provenance

Information not yet known or updated

Literature

González, Javier Novo, 'Raising Friedrich Rehberg: the artist behind Cain: at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum' in 'B’09 : Buletina = Boletín = Bulletin', no. 5 (2010), Bilbao: Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, pp. 139-217.
pp. 13-14
re: attribution

Contogouris, Ersy, "Emma Hamilton, a Model of Agency in Late Eighteenth-Century Europe", PhD dissertation, Montréal: Département d’histoire de l’art et d’études cinématographiques, Université de Montréal, 2014.
Information regarding editions of the work can be found on pages 115-117.

Inscriptions

Inscription: inscription : printed : lower left image & recto : : II //

Inscription: inscription : typed : lower centre margin & recto : later Witt inscription : : F. REHBERG //

Inscription: inscription : typed : lower left margin & recto : later Witt inscription : : Lady Hamilton's Attitudes //

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

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