Mr. Garrick in the Character of King Lear (Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 3, Scene 1)
Garrick, who spearheaded the eighteenth-century Shakespeare revival, appears here as King Lear. In the play, the king is cast out by his power-hungry daughters, and wanders on a stormy heath attended by the faithful duke of Kent, and by Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom. The image reflects Nahum Tate's revised version of the play, staged in London between 1681 and the early nineteenth century, where the role of the Fool is removed, Lear and Cordelia do not die, and the princess marries Edgar.
Artwork Details
- Title: Mr. Garrick in the Character of King Lear (Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 3, Scene 1)
- Engraver: James McArdell (Irish, Dublin 1729–1765 London)
- Artist: After Benjamin Wilson (British, Leeds 1721–1788 London)
- Sitter: David Garrick (British, Hereford 1717–1779 London)
- Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
- Date: 1761
- Medium: Mezzotint; second state
- Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed within plate): 16 1/8 × 20 1/4 in. (41 × 51.4 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
- Object Number: 53.600.1463
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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