Adelina Patti
- Artist: Southwell Brothers
- Date: 1860
- Medium: embossed diamond cameo albumen carte-de-visite
- Dimensions: 4 in. x 2 1/2 in. (102 mm x 62 mm) overall
- Portrays: Adelina Patti
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the portrait of Adelina Patti, an Italian opera singer whose career spanned six decades. On this small 4‑by‑2½‑inch card you see four cameo profiles, all captured in a single sitting at Southwell Brothers’ London studio in the late 1860s. The images are printed on embossed diamond cameo albumen paper, giving each face a subtle three‑dimensional depth.
Patti appears in an elegant hat and with delicate jewellery – details that the Southwells recorded meticulously. Their work is part of a series of 197 portraits they produced during their career from 1861 to 1876.
Adelina was famed for her ability to hit very high notes, commanding top fees across Europe and America. In Britain she owned a house in London and split her time with Paris. This card offers a glimpse into that cosmopolitan life, showing her at the same pose yet in four distinct angles.
See it in person
Adelina Patti is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
