Nelson & His World

'Serena Reading a Newspaper' is a charming image by Romney and I have seen engravings of it in William Hayley's poem 'The Triumphs of Temper' which has Serena as heroine.

http://www.artfund.org/artwork/9136/serena-reading

but it was only when I was browsing tonight that I discovered that, according to the catalogue of the Allbright Fox Gallery in Buffalo New York, the sitter was Lady Hamilton. I have never seen the connection mentioned before.

http://66.251.89.230/detail.php?type=re ... &t=objects

Hayley was a friend of Romney and knew Lady Hamilton.

The Art Fund link notes that there are several copies.

The image in the Art Fund link above shows Serena reading, but she does not appear to be reading a newspaper but a book. And she doesn't appear to look much like Emma (subjective judgement!)

A little more Googling has produced another image by Stodhart, included in various editions of Hayley's 'Triumphs of Temper'. Click on the link and scroll down to find image of a woman reading a newspaper. is this Emma?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1795-Triumphs-Tem ... 51920cb025

Well - I suppose it looks quite like the intaglio ring that Nelson owned showing Emma in profile, although the nose is quite long and Emma was described as having a nose that was 'too short'! Good luck with your research!

Caitlin

I think I've got confused here! The Art Fund image 'Serena Reading' is a well-known image and engravings of it by Stodhard (or Stodhart) appear in Cadell's edition of Hayley's 'Triumphs of Temper.' I've also seen the engraving for sale as a print for framing. (And intended to get round to buying one, one day, as I collect prints of women reading - hence my pursuit of this topic here!)

I assumed (wrongly, I'm sure) that the unillustrated catalogue of the Allbright Fox Gallery 'Serena Reading a newspaper' also referred to this image. A little more Googling revealed the book of 'Trumphs of Temper' with numerous engravings, one of which shows a woman with a book, another of a woman reading a newspaper. This is the image that the Allbright Fox Gallery notes is modelled on Lady Hamilton, I think.

Well, I don't know. Here's a link to a Christie's sale of a Romney study of Serena Reading.

The comment notes that Romney would return to the subject later, painting Emma Hamilton as Serena Reading in 1784-5.

The model for this sketch has not been identified, though she is thought to be Honora Sneyd.

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_ ... ID=4009604

I'll poke about a bit more and see if I can find the Serena/Emma version - unless that really is Emma in the Art Fund link above - though if it is, they would have surely said so?