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G0749
Paintings: G0749
Title
Sarah Siddons, Henry Siddons
Technique
Oil on canvas
Subject
Character
Isabella : Isabella; or The Fatal Marriage
Child : Isabella; or The Fatal Marriage
Child : Isabella; or The Fatal Marriage
Artist
Date
1784
Dimensions
Height: 82.5cm
Width: 57.1cm
height (frame): 100cm
width (frame): 75cm
Width: 57.1cm
height (frame): 100cm
width (frame): 75cm
Inscription/signature
"W. Hamilton 1784" (black paint b. l.)
Provenance
The Rt Hon Lord Aberdare; Christie's 3 June 1932 (95); bt. Strauss for £6; F. J. Nettlefold, by whom presented 1940
Other number
CKA 638
Gift 589
Gift 589
Exhibition history
2003 Munich, Haus der Kunst, "Theatrum Mundi
die Welt als Bühne" (178)
Related works
Original missing, presumed destroyed, exh. R. A. 1785 (98); Private Collection, London, oil on canvas 76 x 63 (bust only) dated 1783, ex. coll. Earl of Harcourt 1820; SNPG 1487 oil on canvas 68.3 x 52.9 (bust of boy) ex. coll. Dame Sarah Siddons Mair
Engraving history
James Caldwell pub. W. Hamilton and J. Caldwell 1 June 1785, line 61.6 x 45.1
H. R. Cook for Oxberry's “New English Drama” pub. Simpkin and Marshall 1 September 1831, stipple 10.8 x 7.9 [half-length only, no child])
Literature
Mrs C. Parsons “The Incomparable Siddons” (1909) pp. 60-1; William Whitley “Artists and their Friends England 1700-1799” (1928) 2: 62; C. Reginald Grundy “A Catalogue of the Pictures and Drawings in the Collection of Frederick John Nettlefold” (1933-38) 2: 142; “The Connoisseur” October 1938, p. 193 (illustrated in colour)
Isabella, dressed in mourning for her supposedly dead husband, wears a full-skirted black dress, and a black veiled hat with ribbons and a veil. Her young son also wears black with lace collar and cuffs.
Garrick's adaptation of Southerne's 1694 tragedy was first performed at Drury Lane on 2 December 1757, with Mrs Cibber as Isabella. Sarah Siddons returned to the London stage as Isabella at Drury Lane on 10 October 1782, an event that marked the beginning of her career as the greatest of all tragic actresses. Henry Siddons played his mother's son. Mrs Siddons acted Isabella frequently the following season.
For additional information on various versions of this picture, see the BD 14: 57-58.
Garrick's adaptation of Southerne's 1694 tragedy was first performed at Drury Lane on 2 December 1757, with Mrs Cibber as Isabella. Sarah Siddons returned to the London stage as Isabella at Drury Lane on 10 October 1782, an event that marked the beginning of her career as the greatest of all tragic actresses. Henry Siddons played his mother's son. Mrs Siddons acted Isabella frequently the following season.
For additional information on various versions of this picture, see the BD 14: 57-58.
