Head of Emma Hamilton as the Cumaean Sibyl is a 1792 portrait painting by French Rococo artist Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun.
Head of Emma Hamilton as the Cumaean Sibyl Analysis
Emma Hamilton was a famous aristocratic socialite who was well known for her elaborate tableaux vivants or stage shows depicting scenes in the dress of antiquity. Here she is painted as the Cumaean sibyl or prophetess which is apt, given her marriage to the English ambassador to Naples which is near Cumae.
Not only is Emma shown in an antique dress but, with plume and parchment in hand, also shown as a learned woman.
This Rococo portrait is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, United States of America.