Portrait of Antonio Canova

Hugh Douglas Hamilton

1787

Pastel over traces of graphite, Pastel

J. Paul Getty Museum

A profile portrait of a man in a powdered wig and formal attire is rendered in pastel. The background is a soft blend of grays and browns. This pastel portrait bears witness to the close friendship and artistic sympathy between Irish painter Hugh Douglas Hamilton and Italian sculptor Antonio Canova in Rome. Hamilton delicately worked up Canova’s distinctive straight nose, high forehead, open mouth, and deep-set eyes while drawing his shoulders and necktie with great rapidity and liveliness. The profile view of Canova, together with the outlines of an oval and inscription CANOVA in the lower right, evoke an antique medallion. The smooth lines and harmonious compositional format convey the influence of Canova’s Neoclassical gravitas on the Irish pastelist. In a letter wr