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The Play-Within-A-Play

Lithographer Villain French
Subject William Shakespeare British
1835
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 we see the famous episode in act 3, scene 2, where Hamlet arranges for visiting players to perform a drama about fratricide, in order to prick his uncle's conscience. During the performance, the prince remarks offhandedly, "Tis a knavish piece of work, but what of that?...it touches us not...He poisons him...for his estate." Tones that range from deepest blacks to pale grays subtly underscore the king's guilty discomfort. 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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Play-Within-A-Play
  • Series/Portfolio: Hamlet, Treize Sujets Dessinés par Eug. Delacroix [Hamlet, Thirteen Subjects Drawn by Eug. Delacroix], Gihaut Frères, Paris, 1843
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Lithographer: Villain (French, active 1819–53)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Date: 1835
  • Medium: Lithograph; second state of three
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 13 5/8 x 10 7/8 in. (34.6 x 27.6 cm)
    Image: 9 3/4 x 12 11/16 in. (24.8 x 32.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.56.10
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Studies of Horses, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite and traces of brown ink on laid paper
Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head, Eugène Delacroix French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper (mounted on heavy wove paper)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
La Pietà, Eugène Delacroix French, Etching on chine collé; second state of two
La Pietà
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Studies of a Goat, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite on wove paper
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863

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