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Portrait of a Woman, Said to Be Emma (1765–1815), Lady Hamilton by Adam Buck

Adam Buck · 1804-01-01

This is a portrait miniature of Emma Hamilton, painted in 1804 by the Irish artist Adam Buck. It is small enough to wear. The Met now holds it in its collection.

Emma Hamilton was born into poverty, the daughter of a Cheshire blacksmith. Through beauty, wit, and a steel nerve, she rose to become an actress, an artist's muse, the wife of a diplomat to Naples, and finally the lover of Admiral Lord Nelson. She was, for a time, the most talked-about woman in Europe.

Buck painted her on ivory, a material that gives her skin a translucent warmth no paper can match. The fine ring of seed pearls around the locket blurs the line between portrait and jewel. This was an object meant to be held, worn, and seen up close by someone who loved her.

By the year this was painted, her fortunes had already begun to turn. Nelson died at Trafalgar the following year. Emma spent the rest of her life pursued by debt and died an exile in Calais in 1815. The locket outlasted everything. Who do you think wore it after she was gone?

Details

Now she fits in the palm of a hand.
Now she fits in the palm of a hand.
Emma Hamilton. A blacksmith's daughter.
Emma Hamilton. A blacksmith's daughter.
She became a muse, an actress, the lover of a national hero.
She became a muse, an actress, the lover of a national hero.
Painted on ivory, so her skin would glow from within.
Painted on ivory, so her skin would glow from within.
The warm yellow-gold surround sets off the cool blue-green background of the painted interior; the goldsmith's work is as much on display as the painting
The warm yellow-gold surround sets off the cool blue-green background of the painted interior; the goldsmith's work is as much on display as the painting
Transcript

She was once the most famous woman in England. Now she fits in the palm of a hand. Emma Hamilton. A blacksmith's daughter. She became a muse, an actress, the lover of a national hero. Painted on ivory, so her skin would glow from within. Look at her mouth. The painter gave it a slight softness. By 1804, when this was made, she was already in debt. She would die in poverty, far from England. This locket kept traveling.