Macbeth Consulting the Witches

Eugène Delacroix French
Subject William Shakespeare British

Not on view

One of Delacroix's most striking prints, "Macbeth Consulting the Witches" owes its dynamic technique to the lithographs of Goya, whose monumental bullfight scenes had just been published in Bordeaux. Datable to 1825, this is probably Delacroix's first important work inspired by Shakespeare. An impression hand-colored in oils by the artist exists, suggesting that he was considering a related painting. The subject occurs in act 4, scene 1, where Macbeth meets the three witches for a second time to ask them about his future.

Macbeth Consulting the Witches, Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris), Lithograph; third state of five

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