Plate 25- By Sir William Hamilton

• Artist: Sir William Hamilton
• Medium: Copperplate engraving
• Publish Details: Paris: 1767-1776. From Antiquites Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines. Original hand coloring on laid paper. 
• Measurements: 33 x 20 in. (mat)
• Conditions: Excellent condition, centerfold as issued. Matted and framed to museum specifications.

Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) was a renown British antiquarian whose collection of Greek vases, sculpture, paintings and carved glass were formed in Naples while he was the British Ambassador to the “Two Sicilies” from 1764-1800. Naples was in the throes of a “Golden Age” as Grand Tourists and distinguished scholars worldwide visited the newly discovered excavation sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Sir Hamilton’s collections of antiquities included objects from these early excavations and other rich archeological sites in Southern Italy. Hamilton created a four-volume book illustrated with copperplate of his great collection of vases. Entitled, Angtiquities Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines, it was published between 1767 and 1776. Single prints circulated then, as now, among those who could not afford to purchase all four volumes of the book. Hamilton’s collections had a surprising influence on English culture and the development of English classical taste. From fireplaces to papier mache boxes, wall paintings to Wedgewood porcelain motifs, the influence of Hamilton’s collections and publications could be seen everywhere.