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Hamlet and the Queen

Lithographer Villain French
Subject William Shakespeare British
1834
Not on view
After Goethe’s "Faust," Delacroix chose "Hamlet" as his next major illustration project. The artist’s interest in Shakespeare began early—he wrote about reading and translating passages in 1819. Among the first subjects he undertook from the play was act 3, scene 4, in which Hamlet shows his mother a portrait of his late father, reproaching her for marrying his murderous uncle Claudius.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hamlet and the Queen
  • 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: 1834
  • Medium: Lithograph; third state of four
  • Dimensions: Image: 10 1/8 x 7 in. (25.7 x 17.8 cm)
    Sheet: 11 7/8 x 7 15/16 in. (30.1 x 20.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.56.13
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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