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Caliban, from "Twelve Characters from Shakespeare"

Artist and engraver Etched and published by John Hamilton Mortimer British
Subject William Shakespeare British
May 20, 1775
Not on view
Mortimer admired Salvator Rosa, absorbed aspects of his dramatic style, and sought British equivalents for his poetic subjects. This etching comes from a series devoted to leading Shakespearean characters, based on drawings exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1775. Merging the seventeenth-century genres of the character head and tête d'expression (expressive head), Mortimer's designs also incorporate aspects of history painting to convey the Bard's dramatic range. Attracted to tragic figures, the artist here portrays Caliban, the offspring of a witch, whom Prospero and Miranda befriend when first exiled to a remote island in "The Tempest." The figure's demonic fingers and goat-like ears point to the lustful nature that drove him to try to rape of Miranda, although his human torso, and lines of engraved text below the image, elicit our sympathy:
"Do not torment me prithee
I'll bring my wood home faster."
(The Tempest, act 2, scene 2)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Caliban, from "Twelve Characters from Shakespeare"
  • Series/Portfolio: Twelve Characters from Shakespeare
  • Artist and engraver: Etched and published by John Hamilton Mortimer (British, Eastbourne 1740–1779 London)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Date: May 20, 1775
  • Medium: Etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 15 11/16 x 12 3/4 in. (39.8 x 32.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1962
  • Object Number: 62.602.163
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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