A Cognocenti contemplating ye Beauties of ye Antique (Emma Hamilton; Horatio Nelson; Sir William Hamilton)
1 portrait of Horatio Nelson
A Cognocenti contemplating ye Beauties of ye Antique (Emma Hamilton; Horatio Nelson; Sir William Hamilton)
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 11 February 1801
14 in. x 10 1/8 in. (357 mm x 258 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D35272
Sittersback to top
- Emma (née Lyon), Lady Hamilton (Baptised 1765-1815), Mistress of Lord Nelson. Sitter associated with 37 portraits. Identify
- Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), Diplomat and archaeologist. Sitter in 14 portraits. Identify
- Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson (1758-1805), Vice-Admiral and victor of Trafalgar. Sitter in 86 portraits. Identify
Artistsback to top
- James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist or producer associated with 887 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
- Hannah Humphrey (circa 1745-1818), Publisher and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 720 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D12755: A Cognocenti Contemplating ye Beauties of ye Antique (Emma Hamilton; Horatio Nelson; Sir William Hamilton) (from same plate)
Linked publicationsback to top
- Edited by Lucy Peltz & Louise Stewart, Love Stories: Art, Passion & Tragedy, 2020, p. 154
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1801back to top
Current affairs
Wlliam Pitt and Lord Castlereagh both resign over the King's refusal to permit the introduction of Catholic emancipation. Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth succeeds Pitt as Prime Minister.Census records 9 million people living in England and Wales, 5.2 million in Ireland and 1.6 million in Scotland.
Art and science
Radical writer, Amelia Opie publishes her best known novel The Father and the Daughter. Said to have reduced Walter Scott to tears, it went on to enjoy success as an opera and a play.International
Other members of the First Coalition fighting France with Britain agree to a humiliating peace treaty and Britain fights on alone.A successful campaign is fought against the French army marooned in Egypt. General Sir Ralph Abercromby leads the troops but is killed in action.
Thomas Jefferson is elected President of the United States.
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Related pages
- William Hazlitt's Spirit of the Age
- Handlist of names in the Reference Collection
- Everyday icons: collecting popular portraits
- Emma Hamilton
- Late Eighteenth Century Prints and Drawings
- Only Connect
- Only Connect - Emma Hamilton <> William Hamilton
- Only Connect - Emma Hamilton <> Richard Cosway
- Only Connect - William Hamilton <> Emma Hamilton
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- Love Stories
- Icons and Identities: Shakespeare to Winehouse
- Love stories: art, passion and tragedy
- Only Connect - William Hamilton <> Charles Burney
- Nelson: before and after Trafalgar
- Silhouettes display, 2004-05
- Plaster figure makers: a short history
- Only Connect - Horatio Nelson <> Joseph Haydn
- Only Connect - Horatio Nelson <> William Hamilton
- Only Connect - Horatio Nelson <> Emma Hamilton
- Only Connect - Horatio Nelson <> Richard Cosway
- COMING HOME: Horatio Nelson
- Adopt-a-Portrait
- Only Connect - William Hamilton <> Wolfgang Mozart