First Previous 6 OF 30 NextLast

Emma Hamilton ('Alope')

6 of 30 portraits of Emma Hamilton

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

Emma Hamilton ('Alope')

by Richard Earlom, published by John Boydell, published by Josiah Boydell, after George Romney
stipple engraving, published 1 August 1787
11 7/8 in. x 15 1/2 in. (303 mm x 393 mm) plate size; 14 5/8 in. x 18 1/8 in. (370 mm x 461 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1951
Reference Collection
NPG D35240

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • John Boydell (1720-1804), Engraver and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 132 portraits, Sitter in 13 portraits.
  • Josiah Boydell (1752-1817), Artist and publisher. Artist or producer associated with 69 portraits.
  • Richard Earlom (1743-1822), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 107 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.
  • George Romney (1734-1802), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 166 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.

This portraitback to top

When the print market took off in the mid-eighteenth century it provided the public with affordable portraits of celebrities and the famous. Emma Hamilton's likeness was seen in numerous paintings that were reproduced in engravings of different sizes and prices. Many were based on portraits by George Romney who was captivated by Emma. He portrayed her in many different guises - a voluptuous bacchante, as Alope, the great beauty from classical mythology, or as 'love-lorn' Kate from William Cowper's 'The Task'. Prints such as these, which could be owned by many people, were
integral to the construction of Emma's celebrity status.

Placesback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback 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.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.