18th-Century European Portraitists
Italian Rosalba Carriera, Scots Allan Ramsay, English George Romney
Which 18th-century European artist suddenly went blind, created coronation portraits of Queen Charlotte, or painted famous beauty Emma Hamilton in historical poses?
Q. What artist went suddenly blind in 1743 and died insane?
A. Rosalba Carriera
Carriera (1675-1757), Venetian Rococo artist, decorated snuff boxes with miniature paintings done on an ivory surface. This was a new technique that she pioneered, different from earlier methods using parchment as the surface for miniatures. Later she became famous for her finely-rendered pastel work, as evident in this self-portrait done in pastel that currently hangs in the Uffizi in Florence.
When her sister, Giovanna, died of tuberculosis in 1737, Carriera became so depressed that she did not work for several months. Sadly, next her eyesight started to deteriorate due to cataracts and within ten years she was completely blind. Carriera spent her last ten years in total seclusion where she battled with episodes of major depression.
This beautiful portrait of Countess Anna Katharina Orzelska, daughter of the King of Poland, can be seen at Gemäldegalerie Alte Meiseter [Picture Gallery of the Old Masters] in Dresden, Germany.
Q. What artist created the Coronation Portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte?
A. Allan Ramsay
Queen Charlotte (1738-1820) [née Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz], wife of the English King George III, is alleged to have descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House. Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts, known to both Bach and Mozart among others. She and George III had 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood.
Scottish Rococo painter Sir Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) was the artist responsible for the majority of the paintings of Queen Charlotte. Of all Queen Charlotte’s portraits, Ramsay’s representations of her most emphasize her supposed mulatto appearance. This painting can be seen at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Q. What artist produced a series of “historical” portraits of Emma Hart, the future Lady Hamilton?
A. George Romney
Emma Hamilton (1765-1815) was born Amy Lyon, the daughter of a blacksmith. An attractive and ambitious girl eager to move on from her working class origins, she first changed her name to Emma Hart. Then she quickly learned to use her talents to her best advantage, such as her confidence in exploiting her beauty and her seemingly natural skills as a performer. Prominent men like Sir William Hamilton, Lord Horatio Nelson, and English portrait painter George Romney helped launch Emma into British society.
She was famous for what came to be known as her “attitudes,” starting with her performances in “living illustration” advertisements for quack medicines, advancing to public poses based upon historical female figures from antique vases, on paintings, and in literature. She would transform herself from a madonna in quiet contemplation, to a dancing Bacchante, to goddess Diana at the hunt. These enthusiastic performances became social events at her husband Sir Hamilton’s villa in Naples for groups of their friends and various intellectuals.
Artist George Romney (1734–1802) was a leading portrait painter of his day, along with Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, and mainly painted portraits of women. Brought to Romney to sit for a portrait, Emma captivated the artist with her beauty and presence, becoming his muse and sitting for him well over 100 times. Rumor has it that Romney became obsessed with Emma and that she became his means of escape into an imaginary, ideal world. Emma appears in more than fifty of Romney's paintings, in various poses and as the subject of literary themes such as Circe, as Medea, or as Joan of Arc.
This painting showing Emma, Lady Hamilton at her loveliest can be seen at Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, USA.
Sources:
- Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.
- Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, 2007.
