Emma Hamilton, c. 1785

Emma, Lady Hamilton (c. 1765–1815), is usually known as the lover of the great naval hero, Admiral Lord Nelson. However, she had many identities throughout her life and through her talents broke down barriers of class and gender to claim a place in the public sphere. In particular, her innovative form of performance art – known as the ‘Attitudes’ – based on the telling of ancient myths, brought her international fame. She was inspired to some extent in her performances by her work as George Romney’s model, for whom she inhabited various characters in the hundreds of portraits he painted of her. In 1813, after the deaths of Nelson and her husband Sir William Hamilton, her bankruptcy led to her arrest for debt. She died, destitute, two years later.

Although painted for different occasions, this work and the adjacent painting of Horatio Nelson help illustrate one of British history’s greatest love affairs.　Emma Hamilton met Nelson in 1793 in Naples, where her husband was a British Ambassador. By 1799, Nelson and Hamilton had become lovers. Their relationship, which scandalised high society, endured until Nelson’s death in 1805, and has inspired numerous books and films, including That Hamilton Woman (1941).

National Portrait Gallery, London Purchased with help from the Art Fund, 1965
© National Portrait Gallery, London