Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard III

Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard III

William Hogarth

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hogarth represents his close friend, the actor David Garrick, as Richard III waking from a vision of the ghosts of those he murdered to attain the throne. The scene occurs in act 5, scene 7 of Shakespeare's play, just before the Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard is defeated and the Tudors attain the throne. Based on a 1745 painting at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the print conveys Garrick's dynamic ability to bring Shakespeare to life for his contemporaries.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard IIIMr. Garrick in the Character of Richard IIIMr. Garrick in the Character of Richard IIIMr. Garrick in the Character of Richard IIIMr. Garrick in the Character of Richard III

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.