Lady Hamilton Playing a Lyre

c. 1785

George Romney

Associated Names
George Romney

Artist, British, 1734 - 1802

The image shows a seated figure holding a stringed instrument. The person is depicted from head to just below the knees, positioned to the left and with a slightly hunched upper body. The head is turned to the side, with the gaze downwards. The figure has soft facial features and curly hair tied back. They wear a draped garment and hold the instrument close to their chest with both hands. The background features broad brushstrokes in varying shades of brown.

Media Options

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Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

G.L. Laporte (Lugt 1170), New York; (Julius H. Weitzner [1896-1986], New York); Julius S. Held, Old Bennington, Vermont; purchased 1984 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1970

  • Selections from the Drawing Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Julius S. Held, University Art Gallery, Binghamton; traveling exhibition, 1970, no. 12.

1973

  • One Hundred Master Drawings from New England Private Collections, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College; Museum of Fine Art, Boston, 1973-1974, no. 41.

1987

  • English Drawings and Watercolors, 1630-1850, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1987-1988, no cat.

1993

  • Visions of Antiquity: Neoclassical Figure Drawings, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1993-1994, no. 2.

Bibliography

1973

  • Robinson 1973, no. 41.

1979

  • Master drawings from the Collection of Ingrid and Julius S. Held. Exh cat. Burlington, VT, Robert Hull Fleming Museum 1979: 31.

1993

  • Campbell, Richard J., and Victor Carlson. Visions of Antiquity: Neoclassical Figure Drawings. Exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Minneapolis Institute of Art. Los Angeles and Minneapolis, 1993: no. 2.

Inscriptions

upper right in brown ink: [the remains of a final "t" from a cut-off inscription, legible when the sheet is turned to the right]; by later hand, across top verso in graphite: [f?] in dark plain oak / Gilt [slip?]

Wikidata ID

Q64571559

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