LADY HAMILTON'S SPLENDOUR AND DECLINE

Exceptional destinies

An episode from the series SECRETS OF HISTORY - PORTRAITS

Synopsis

Born into poverty, Emma Hamilton engaged in prostitution on the wet pavements of London in her youth. The painter George Romney made her his muse and dedicated some 30 canvases to her.

Her life changed in 1786, in Naples, when she met Sir William Hamilton and married him. She was then introduced to the court of the Kingdom of Naples. She became one of Queen Marie-Caroline's closest friends and had Admiral Nelson fall madly in love with her.

Her life could have been the subject of a fictional novel set at the end of the Enlightenment.