George Romney
, English, 1734-1802
Title
Titania, Puck and the Changeling, from Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'Date1793
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
104 x 135 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1894
Object numberNGI.381
DescriptionAt the opening of Shakespear's play, Oberon, King of the Fairies, renews the argument with his Queen, Titania, over who should have custody of the changeling boy. She crowns with flowers the 'lovely boy stolen from an Indian King' and treats him as her actual son. The boy's birth on a beach may explain Romney's choice of setting here, with three characters placed against a sky full of fairies. Puck, a 'shrewd and knavish sprite', tries to 'bind his feet in flowery fetters' and is to bring about Titania's romantic love misadventure on jealous Oberon's orders.Underlying the air of dalliance is Romney's choice of Emma Hamilton as the model for Titania. She had long been the artist's muse, having first sat for him for a portarit in 1782 while she was mistress of the Hon. Charles Grenville. An arranged marriage in 1791 to his uncle, Sir william Hamilton, the British Ambassador at Naples, gave her a European stage in society. She was later mistress od Admiral Nelson. The warm palette and sketchy technique, typical of Romney's later work, enhance the sense of allure.
(National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008)
ProvenanceChristie's, 27 April 1807, Romney sale, lot 119; Sir John Leicester (later Lord de Tabley); Lord de Tabley's sale, 1827; Mr Walter Russell of Ilam Hall; Russell sale, 1875; Messrs Agnew; Miss Romney; purchased, Christie's, London, 1894, Miss Romney's sale Exhibition HistoryShakespeare in Western Art c.1750-c.1919, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, 22 October - 15 November 1992; Ibaraki Museum of Modern Art, Mito, 28 November - 27 December 1992; Kintetse Museum of Art, 3 January - 10 February 1993; Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu, 19 February - 28 March 1993