Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as the Tragic Muse

Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as the Tragic Muse, by Francis Haward, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, published 1787 (1783-1784) - NPG D9069 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as the Tragic Muse

by Francis Haward, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
stipple engraving, published 1787 (1783-1784)
24 3/4 in. x 17 3/4 in. (630 mm x 452 mm) plate size; 24 7/8 in. x 18 1/8 in. (633 mm x 460 mm) paper size
acquired, 1868
Reference Collection
NPG D9069

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • Francis Haward (1759-1797), Engraver. Artist associated with 7 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
  • Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Painter and first President of the Royal Academy. Artist associated with 1413 portraits, Sitter associated with 38 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Sidons is shown here flanked by figures representing Pity and Terror. The central notion for the portrait could have been taken from a poem in her praise by William Russell entitled The Tragic Muse: A Poem addressed to Mrs Siddons (1783).

Related worksback to top

  • NPG D4232: Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as the Tragic Muse (based on same portrait)
  • NPG D14253: Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as the Tragic Muse (based on same portrait)
  • NPG D41674: Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as the Tragic Muse (based on same portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Wendorf, Richard, Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Portrait in Society, 1996, p. fig 27

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1787back to top

Current affairs

Social reformers Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade in London with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others.
George III shows first signs of mental instability in November.

Art and science

Painter Robert Barker takes out a patent on the Panorama..
Astronomer William Herschel discovers the two moons of Uranus, Titania and Oberon.
The original Lord's Cricket Ground holds its first cricket match.

International

Captain William Bligh sets sail for Tahiti on The Bounty.
First performance of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni at the National Theatre, Prague.
A British ship lands a party of freed slaves as the first modern settlers in Sierra Leone.
Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth with eleven ships full of convicts to establish a penal colony in Australia.
Bahamas become a British colony.

Tell us more back to top

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