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An English Country Performance of Macbeth

1790
Not on view
Shakespeare's wide popularity around 1790 is demonstrated by this satire. A provincial audience crowds a barn-like theater to attend a performance of Macbeth. We view the scene from backstage as the three witches emerge from a trap door. At left, unseen by the audience, a prompter sits on a barrel as players mend a costume, smoke, and having their hair dressed. At right, peeking around a flat, a booted and cloaked figure who may be Macbeth, waits to come on.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: An English Country Performance of Macbeth
  • Etcher: J. Wright (British, active 1788–90)
  • Artist: After William Henry Pyne (British, London 1770–1843 Middlesex)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Publisher: Thomas Martyn (British, active 1760–1816)
  • Date: 1790
  • Medium: Aquatint and etching, hand-colored
  • Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed within plate): 15 11/16 × 19 7/16 in. (39.8 × 49.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.2601
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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