Object Type
This print is an etching. The etching process involves using acid to bite designated lines into a metal plate. These lines are then filled with ink, and the plate is pressed onto paper, thus transferring the image.

Subject Depicted
This print shows Emma, Lady Hamilton (1765-1815) performing her famous 'attitudes', a series of theatrical mimes and poses in which she represented various figures from classical literature, myth and history. She was the wife of Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), a diplomat, collector and connoisseur.

While performing her 'attitudes', Emma created a living gallery of statues and paintings by clever manipulation of her long shawl, her pose and facial expression, and the use of props, such as a vase. She acted a succession of characters, for example from a Roman maiden making an offering, to a devotional saint, to the classical figure Medea slaying her child. The audiences - connoisseurs and Grand Tourists - for whom Emma performed her poses, would all have recognised the various characters familiar to them in the form of classical sculptures and in depictions in Old Master paintings. Her audiences were profoundly impressed both by how she seemed able to bring to life the characters shown in famous works of art and the emotional intensity she conveyed in a performance.

People
Emma Hamilton was renowned for her looks, which were often compared to the perfect forms found in ancient Greek statues. In later years she was the lover of the naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson (1758-1805).