Circe: The Enchantress

While in London, I took some time to visit the Tate Britian, the national gallery of British art from 1500 to the present. It is virtually a stone’s throw from my brother’s house, a nice little walk in the crisp air. The site is situated on Millbank Road, the former site of the Millbank Prison. The Tate (named for Sir Henry Tate – sugar merchant and philanthropist) was opened in July 1897 to house one of the most expensive collections of solely British art. It is rather a cavernous building, with large, cool, high-ceilinged rooms of light beige stone that creates a simple backdrop for the incredible works of art.

This year I spied the portrait of Lady Emma Hamilton as Circe, by George Romney, painted 1782. Of course, we know Lady Hamilton as the beautiful, though notorious mistress of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson of the British Royal Navy, hero of the Battle of the Nile and of Trafalgar. Emma was the obsessive subject of George Romney, painting her many times as herself as well as being depicted as various muse, goddesses, etc.

The Circe portrait is actually not finished, and was cut down. It is impressive as it is loose and sketchy, much different than other portraits of the times. Circe was a goddess of magic, a sorceress, which fits Emma’s status and personality. She definitely enchanted Nelson, undoing his marriage, making him a figure of ridicule, were it not for his glorious sea victories that diverted some of the negative attention. Circe was known to transform her enemies into animals.

The painting is oil on canvas, about 18 x18, and was acquired in 1945, a bequest of Lady Wharton. Emma is immortalized at her best, though in real life, her life ended tragically. She was not provided for after Nelson’s death, and as she was not his wife, the Royal Navy couldn’t have cared less. Nelson and Emma had an illegitimate child, and Emma, falling out of favor as a woman alone and disgraced, travelled to France where died penniless.