They are two of many paintings Regency-era painter George Romney made of the teenaged Emma Hart , already described as ‘London’s biggest celebrity’ by the time she found herself posing for the established artist.
What came first: Hart’s reputation as a seductress beyond her years, or Romney’s depiction of her as such? When I look at her I think about the depictions of teenage celebrities of other eras: of Brooke Shields, portrayed as a sexual, knowing creature in Richard Avedon’s infamous Calvin Klein advertising campaign, when she is just 14 years old. I also note how, in the titles of both works, Hart is described ‘as’ something else: in each, she plays a role given to her by another.
The latter was praised at the time for its impressively accurate study of nature, an assessment that entirely leaves out the girl at its centre: Hamlet’s romantic interest Ophelia, whose suicide by drowning occurs off-stage in Shakespeare’s play.