Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) ('Hold! - Pizarro - hear me! - if not always justly, at least act always greatly')
12 of 38 portraits of Sarah Siddons (née Kemble)
Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) ('Hold! - Pizarro - hear me! - if not always justly, at least act always greatly')
by and published by Robert Dighton
hand-coloured etching, published 14 December 1799
9 in. x 6 7/8 in. (228 mm x 175 mm) plate size; 13 5/8 in. x 9 7/8 in. (347 mm x 250 mm) paper size
Given by Henry Witte Martin, 1861
Reference Collection
NPG D10687
Click on the links below to find out more:
Sitterback to top
- Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) (1755-1831), Actress. Sitter associated with 38 portraits, Artist associated with 1 portrait.
Artistback to top
- Robert Dighton (1751-1814), Portrait painter, caricaturist and actor. Artist associated with 271 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Sarah Siddons appears as Elvira in Pizarro, a tragedy adapted by Richard Brinsley Sheridan after a work by the German dramatist Kotzebue.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D10686: John Philip Kemble ('We serve a King whom we love - a God whom we adore') (companion print)
- NPG D6837: Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) ('Hold! - Pizarro - hear me! - if not always justly, at least act always greatly') (impression from same plate as)
Linked publicationsback to top
- Perry, Gill (introduction) Roach, Joseph (appreciation) and West, Shearer (appreciation), The First Actresses: Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 2011 to 8 January 2012), p. 129



