From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
English painter and illustrator
William Hamilton
RA
(1751?1801) was an English painter and illustrator.
Life
[
edit
]
Hamilton was born in
Chelsea, London
, but travelled and worked in Italy with
Antonio Zucchi
for several years. He trained first as an architectural draftsman, but soon moved to theatrical portraits and scenes from plays.
Hamilton became an associate member of the Royal Academy from 1784, and was made a full member in 1789.
Works
[
edit
]
Hamilton became very well known for his paintings depicting episodes from the plays of Shakespeare and for his illustrations of poems. He was commissioned to create works for
John Boydell
's
Shakespeare Gallery
,
Thomas Macklin
's Bible and
Robert Bowyer
's
English History
.
[1]
These were widely reproduced in popular prints.
Francesco Bartolozzi
engraved a number of Hamilton's best known works.
[2]
He also painted modern events, such as the execution of
Marie Antoinette
, in the manner of epic historical drama. Several battle scenes were also exhibited including
The destruction of the Spanish battery ships before Gibraltar in the night of the 13th of Sept. last
(1783) and
Defence of the Breach at Jean d'Acre by Sir Sidney Smith
(1800).
Hamilton's style shows the influence of the cult of sentiment typical of the period, resembling the work of
Angelica Kauffman
. He also sometimes adopts aspects of
Fuseli
's dramatic distortions in composition and figure drawing.
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Joan
and the Furies
, from
Henry VI, Part 1
-
-
Vertumnus and Pomona
, 1789
-
Christ and the
Woman of Samaria
, 1792
-
The carousing of Sir Toby Belch and Sir Anthony Aguecheek
, 1792
-
Isabella appealing to Angelo
, 1793
-
-
The Wolves Descending from the Alps
, 1794
-
Olivia's proposal
, c. 1796
-
Prospero and Ariel
, 1797
-
A Scene from
Twelfth Night
, c. 1797
-
The Duke of York discovering his son
Aumerle
's treachery
, late 1790s
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|