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Hamlet and Laertes at the Tomb of Ophelia

Subject William Shakespeare British
ca. 1843
Not on view
This composition was one of the three omitted from the 1843 publication of "Hamlet." (Though it was eventually included in a posthumous edition of the book published in 1864.) Perhaps Delacroix decided the preceding lithograph of the gravediggers was sufficient to represent act 5, scene 1. In reference to this work, Alfred Robaut, one of the first scholars of Delacroix’s drawings, wrote in 1885: "Delacroix enjoyed tracing his compositions several times, and the more he advanced, the more he simplified, endeavoring to render in ten strokes of the pencil what he had first expressed in one hundred." Tracing thus enabled the artist to hone his composition, so that when it came time to draw the design on the lithographic stone, his task was clear and defined.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hamlet and Laertes at the Tomb of Ophelia
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Date: ca. 1843
  • Medium: Graphite on tracing paper, laid down
  • Dimensions: sheet: 9 3/16 x 12 1/16 in. (23.3 x 30.6 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1135.36
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
19th century
La Pietà
After Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
1852
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
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