Lady Emma Hamilton as Miranda

Lady Emma Hamilton (1761?-1815), the famous lover of Admiral Nelson, was portrayed by Romney in a variety of guises and roles. In this one, she is cast as Miranda, the heroine of Shakespeare's The Tempest, pleading with her sorcerer father, Prospero, to save the lives of the shipwrecked mariners. A number of studies, relating to a large-scale composition that Romney executed for Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, are recorded.