The Murder of Polonius
Eugène Delacroix French
Subject William Shakespeare British
Not on view
In 1834 Delacroix began a series of lithographs devoted to Hamlet, creating moody images that mirror the troubled psyche of the prince. Choosing key scenes and poetic passages, the artist's highly personal and dramatic images were unusual in France, where interest in Shakespeare developed only in the nineteenth century. Here, in act 3, scene 4, Hamlet detects someone hiding behind a curtain and unsheathes his sword. His enraged expression indicates that he believes it to be the king, and the moment an opportunity to take revenge. In fact, the hidden figure turns out to be the courtier Polonious, trying to gather clues about Hamlet's unsettled state of mind. Gihaut frères published the artist's thirteen-print set in 1843, with a second expanded edition of sixteen issued by Bertauts in 1864. Cooly received at first, the prints eventually were recognized as one of the artist's most significant achievements.
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